UTING 

ADVENTURE 
LIBRARY 


KNOW  AND  YET  TO  DARE 


RHODES  -  SOLIMAN'S  MOSQUE 


a^S^!B5^a^^^ 


BERTRAND  SMITHS 

K 
UOfACtPK. 


HOBART  PASHA 


OTHER  BOOKS  BY 

HORACE   KEPHART 

OUR  SOUTHERN   HIGHLANDERS 

Illustrated,  $2.50  net 

THE  BOOK  OF  CAMPING  AND 
WOODCRAFT 

Illustrated,   Cloth  $1.50   net.    Leather 
$2.00  net 

SPORTING  FIRE  ARMS 

70  cents  net 

CAMP  COOKERY 

70  cents  net 


OUTING   ADVENTURE  LIBRARY 

HOBART  PASHA 

BY   AUGUSTUS  CHARLES   HOBART-HAMPDEN 

Blockade-Running,  Slaver-Hunting, 
and  War  and  Sport  in  Turkey 


EDITED  BY 

HORACE  KEPHART 


NELSON     DOUBLED AY 

OYSTER  BAY,  N.  Y. 


Copyright,  1915,  by 
OUTING  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


All  rig  hit  reserved. 


SRLF 

.urn, 
514044J 


INTRODUCTION 

Hobart  Pasha  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Nature  had  fitted 
him  for  the  role  of  an  Elizabethan  corsair,  but 
he  was  born  out  of  his  due  time,  and,  by  some 
strange  jugglery  of  fate,  was  projected  into  the 
Victorian  era. 

Full  of  energy  and  overflowing  with  animal  spir- 
its, he  craved  a  life  of  excitement  and  adventure. 
The  long  dull  intervals  of  naval  routine  in  times 
of  peace  bored  and  irritated  him.  He  chafed  un- 
der the  iron  discipline  of  his  period  and  rebelled 
against  the  tyranny  of  superiors.  Daring  and 
self-confident,  he  scorned  the  conventions  that 
frowned  upon  his  fondness  for  romantic  enter- 
prizes.  And  so,  finally,  when  convinced  that  the 
royal  navy  offered  no  scope  for  his  peculiar  tal- 
ents, nor  prospect  of  the  advancement  he  deserved, 
Hobart  abandoned  the  service  to  become  a  free 
lance,  a  soldier  of  fortune,  who  might  fight  under 
any  flag  he  chose. 

The  following  reminiscences,  which  he  called 
"  Sketches  from  My  Life,"  were  jotted  down  in 
the  enforced  leisure  of  the  sick-room,  from  which 

5 


6  INTRODUCTION 

he  was  never  to  emerge  alive.  Despite  the  offhand 
style  in  which  they  were  composed,  and  the  im- 
possibility of  revision,  these  memoirs  are  among 
the  most  interesting  in  our  literature.  Hobart's 
tales  of  his  youthful  experiences  as  a  man-o'-wars- 
man  read  like  pages  from  "  Midshipman  Easy  " 
or  "  Peter  Simple  " ;  his  record  of  blockade-run- 
ning during  our  civil  war  is  as  thrilling  as  a  nau- 
tical romance  by  Jules  Verne.  He  is  never  prolix. 
The  stories  are  told  in  a  plain,  bluff,  sailorlike 
way,  though  with  instinctive  choice  of  the  apt  word 
or  phrase ;  and  when  told,  he  quits. 

Hobart  has  been  accused  of  interweaving  fact 
and  fiction  to  produce  a  story  that  would  be  ben 
trovato  if  not  vero.  His  critics  admit  that  no 
man  of  his  time  crowded  more  romantic  and  ex- 
citing episodes  into  the  span  of  a  lifetime;  but, 
like  that  earlier  paladin  of  adventure  Captain 
John  Smith,  he  is  taxed  with  inventing  extraor- 
dinary situations,  whereas  if  he  had  been  content 
to  tell  the  plain  facts  about  his  career  they  would 
have  been  marvellous  enough.  This  charge  is 
worth  looking  into. 

An  expert  who  had  access  to  the  British  naval 
archives  put  Hobart's  "  Sketches  "  to  the  test  of 
close  comparison  with  the  records.  He  found,  in 
the  first  nine  chapters  of  the  book  (but  not  else- 
where) that  "  times,  places,  and  actors  are  so  jum- 


INTRODUCTION  7 

bled  together  as  to  make  the  unravelling  of  the 
real  thread  a  process  something  like  that  of  wind- 
ing off  a  silken  cord  from  a  badly  tangled  skein. 
.  .  .  Statements  and  narratives  which  on  the  face 
of  them  we  should  receive  with  cautious  doubt  are 
true  enough;  others  which  we  should  read  with- 
out the  slightest  suspicion  are  the  veriest 
dreams." 

The  best  informed  reviewers  have  absolved  Ho- 
bart  from  any  intention  to  deceive.  The  inaccu- 
racies and  fancies  in  the  fore  part  of  the  book 
may  be  ascribed  to  the  confused  memory  of  an  old 
and  sorely  stricken  man,  who,  in  some  instances 
was  unable  to  distinguish  what  he  had  heard  from 
what  he  had  seen.  The  first  nine  chapters  cover 
the  period  of  his  youth  and  early  manhood.  On 
the  sick-bed  he  had  no  opportunity  to  check  off 
his  recollections  of  that  far-off  time  against  writ- 
ten or  printed  records.  In  the  present  edition  all 
errors  that  are  of  any  consequence  have  been  cor- 
rected by  footnotes. 

Chapters  ten  to  sixteen  are  of  an  entirely  differ- 
ent order.  They  narrate  the  author's  experiences 
as  a  blockade  runner  in  our  war  between  the  States. 
They  were  published  by  him  at  the  close  of  the  war 
in  a  little  volume  entitled  "  Never  Caught."  All 
the  scenes  and  adventures  were  then  fresh  and 
vivid  in  his  memory,  and  they  are  accepted  as  un- 


8  INTRODUCTION 

varnished  truth  by  men  who  participated  in  the 
thrilling  events  that  are  here  portrayed. 

The  rest  of  the  book  relates  to  Hobart's  serv- 
ice as  admiral  and  pasha  in  the  Turkish  navy. 
This  part  of  his  life  was  the  "  to-day  "  of  him  who 
described  it,  and  the  accuracy  of  his  record  has 
not  been  questioned. 

So  it  turns  out  that  the  really  remarkable  feats 
he  claims  to  have  performed  he  did  perform.  Com- 
pared with  them  it  is  of  no  consequence  whether  in 
his  youth,  when  he  was  rollicking  or  chasing 
slavers,  his  ship  happened  to  be  where  he  says  it 
was,  at  a  given  time,  or  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic. 

One  will  note  that  the  names  of  the  author's 
personal  enemies,  and  even  of  their  ships,  are  pur- 
posely obscured  or  merely  indicated  by  initials. 
He  respected  the  feelings  and  dignity  of  his  adver- 
saries. Another  likable  trait  in  the  man  is  his 
modesty:  there  is  no  swashbuckling  nor  bragga- 
docio here. 

Of  his  ancestry  he  simply  says  "  I  was  born  of 
respectable  parents  " —  not  a  pretentious  claim, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  he  was  a  younger  son  of 
the  6th  earl  of  Buckinghamshire,  and  lineal  de- 
scendant of  no  less  a  personage  than  John  Hamp- 
den. 

Augustus  Charles  Hobart-Hampden  was  born 


INTRODUCTION  9 

April  1,  1822.  Entering  the  royal  navy  at  the 
age  of  thirteen,  he  immediately  became  not  only 
witness  but  victim  of  that  cult  of  tyranny  and  ter- 
rorism that  made  many  a  vessel  in  those  days  a 
floating  hell.  Some  of  the  examples  he  gives  are 
so  outrageous  that  he  has  been  accused  of  exag- 
gerating; but  one  of  his  critics,  in  the  Saturday 
Review,  declares :  "  It  is  within  the  memory  of 
many  living  men  that  a  captain,  who  is  called  in 

this  volume  Sir  Wm.  M ,*  and  who  had,  rightly 

or  wrongly,  the  reputation  of  being  the  smartest 
officer  in  the  navy,  used  regularly,  and  as  a  matter 
of  course,  to  flog  the  last  man  down  from  furling 
the  sails." 

Hobart  was  of  a  kindly  nature,  but  of  very  in- 
dependent spirit,  and  such  brutalities  made  him 
blaze  out  and  speak  his  mind.  This  only  gained 
for  him  the  reputation  of  a  "  troublesome  char- 
acter "  and  a  "  sea  lawyer."  It  had  much  to  do  in 
retarding  his  promotion,  which  furthermore  was 
checked  by  the  slenderness  of  his  means.  He  did 
not  even  reach  the  rank  of  post-captain  until  after 
twenty-eight  years'  service,  and  then,  soured  or 
despairing,  he  promptly  retired  on  half  pay. 

By  this  time  (1863)  the  civil  war  in  America 
was  well  advanced.  Hobart,  who  believed  that  the 
negro  is  fit  to  be  only  a  white  man's  servant,  sym- 
*  Admiral  Sir  William  Martin.  (Ed.) 


10  INTRODUCTION 

pathized  with  the  South.  Had  he  been  a  rich  man 
he  doubtless  would  have  enlisted  with  the  Confed- 
eracy. Being  poor,  he  determined  to  combine 
principle  with  profit  by  running  the  blockade  into 
southern  ports,  just  as  in  1812  the  bolder  Amer- 
ican merchants  ran  cargoes  into  the  ports  of 
blockaded  France. 

Assuming  the  nom  de  guerre  of  Captain 
"  Charles  Roberts,"  he  took  command  of  a  swift 
steamer  and  made  several  hazardous  passages  into 
Wilmington  and  Charleston.  His  skilful  seaman- 
ship, canny  precautions,  ready  wit,  great  daring 
and  presence  of  mind,  together  with  the  "  luck  " 
that  such  qualities  generally  compel,  brought  him 
and  his  ship  scatheless  through  many  a  "  close 
shave  "  and  exciting  chase. 

In  1867  Hobart  entered  the  Turkish  service  as 
naval  adviser  to  the  sultan,  and  at  once  utilized 
his  experience  as  arch-blockade  runner  by  turn- 
ing blockader  himself  and  bottling  up  the  Greek 
ships  that  had  been  supplying  insurgents  in  Crete. 
Thus  in  a  few  days  he  suppressed  the  Cretan  re- 
bellion, and  won  the  personal  friendship  of  the 
sultan. 

Nothing  could  have  made  him  more  unpopular 
in  England  than  enlistment  under  the  Crescent. 
But  Hobart  was  one  of  those  cosmopolites  who 
can  see  and  acknowledge  the  good  that  is  in  any 


INTRODUCTION  II 

people.  He  admired  manliness  wherever  he  found 
it,  and  took  keen  relish  in  the  valor  of  aliens  or  foes 
as  well  as  in  that  of  his  comrades  in  arms.  Among 
the  Ottomans  he  won  respect,  in  turn,  for  his  cour- 
age, ability,  and  unswerving  honesty.  In  1881  he 
was  appointed  mushir  or  marshal  of  the  empire. 

Hobart  was  twice  struck  off  the  British  naval 
retired  list  for  breach  of  the  Foreign  Enlistment 
Act,  but  twice  reinstated  —  the  second  time 
(1885)  with  rank  of  vice-admiral. 

The  malady  from  which  he  suffered  while  pen- 
ning these  "  Sketches  "  was  an  affection  of  the 
heart.  It  proved  fatal  before  the  book  issued 
from  the  press.  He  died  at  Milan,  June  19,  1886, 
and  was  buried  in  the  English  cemetery  at  Scu- 
tari. 

From  one  who  knew  him  we  have  the  following 
sketch  of  Hobart's  personality. — "  Though  not 
what  would  be  called  a  handsome  man,  he  had  a 
pleasant,  well-featured  face.  In  figure  he  was  per- 
haps below  the  middle  size,  and  was  remarkable 
for  the  smallness  of  his  hands  and  feet.  His  frame 
was  thick-set,  firm  and  wiry,  but  with  nothing 
bulky  about  it  —  had  there  been  it  would  have 
been  carried  off  by  the  scrupulous  niceties  of  his 
dress.  Wherever  he  went,  Hobart  was  a  favorite. 
He  was  that  sort  of  man  who  impressed  all  of  his 
acquaintances  with  his  humor  and  bonhomie.  His 


12  INTRODUCTION 

equals  were  always  ready  to  help  him  in  emergen- 
cies, and  though  he  was  no  disciplinarian,  his  in- 
feriors, both  in  the  English  and  in  the  Turkish 
services,  were  glad  to  obey  his  lightest  behests." 

For  serving  under  the  flag  of  the  execrated 
Turk  he  was  roundly  abused  by  many  of  his  coun- 
trymen, but  others  foresaw  that  history,  in  time  to 
come,  would  do  him  justice.  One  has  said :  "  Our 
grandfathers  would  have  openly  called  Hobart 
Pasha  a  renegade  —  we  only  think  him  so  —  our 
grandchildren  will  do  neither." 

The  London  Daily  Telegraph  summarized  his 
character  in  these  words : 

"  Altogether  Augustus  Charles  Hobart  was  a 
remarkable  man  —  bluff,  bold,  dashing,  and  some- 
what dogged.  There  was  in  his  composition  some- 
thing of  the  mediaeval  *  condottiere,'  and  a  good 
deal  more  of  that  Dugald  Dalgetty  whom  Scott 
drew.  Gustavus  Adolphus  would  have  made  much 
of  Hobart ;  the  great  Czarina,  Catherine  H,  would 
have  appointed  him  Commander-in-Chief  of  her 
fleet,  and  covered  him  with  honors,  even  as  she 
did  her  Scotch  Admiral  Gleig,  and  that  other  yet 
more  famous  sea-dog,  king  of  corsairs,  Paul  Jones. 
It  would  be  unjust  to  sneer  at  Hobart  as  a  mer- 
cenary. His  was  no  more  a  hired  sword  than 
were  the  blades  of  Schomberg  and  Berwick,  of 
Maurice  de  Saxe  and  Eugene  of  Savoy.  When 


INTRODUCTION  13 

there  was  fighting  to  be  done  Hobart  liked  to  be 
in  it  - —  that  is  all.  Of  the  fearless,  dashing,  ad- 
venturous Englishman,  ready  to  go  anywhere  and 
do  anything,  Hobart  was  a  brilliantly  represen- 
tative type." 

HORACE  KEPHAET. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

INTRODUCTION      ...,.,    ,.;     ...     ,.,       5 

I  A  ROUGH  START  IN  LIFE     ....      19 

II  PERILS  BY  SEA  AND  LAND      .      ...      .31 

III  A  TRAGICAL  AFFAIR        ......     44 

IV  Rio  DE  JANEIRO   ..........     53 

V  SLAVER  HUNTING      .......     60 

VI  SLAVER  HUNTING   (Continued)        .      .      70 

VII  LOVE  AND  MURDER    ......     79 

VIII  THE  QUEEN'S  YACHT     .....     88 

IX     IN  THE  BALTIC 95 

X     BLOCKADE-RUNNING 104 

XI     EXCITING  ADVENTURES 119 

XII  A  VISIT  TO  CHARLESTON     ....    136 

XIII  NEVER  CAUGHT!  .......    149 

XIV  LAST  DAYS  ON  THE  "  D — N  "     .      .      .162 

XV  RICHMOND  DURING  THE  SIEGE  .      .      .173 

XVI     THE  LAND  BLOCKADE 188 

XVII  I  ENTER  THE  TURKISH  NAVY     .      .      .   199 

XVIII     THE  WAR  WITH  RUSSIA 213 

XIX  THE  TURKISH  FLEET  DURING  THE  WAR  228 

XX     SPORT  IN  TURKEY 246 

XXI  SPORT  AND  SOCIETY  .                            .  263 


HOBART  PASHA 


HOBART  PASHA 


CHAPTER  I 

A   HOUGH    START   IN    LIFE 

TO  attempt  to  write  and  publish  sketches  of 
my  somewhat  eventful  career  is  an  act  that, 
I  fear,  entails  the  risk  of  making  enemies  of 
some  with  whom  I  have  come  in  contact.  But  I 
have  arrived  at  that  time  of  life  when,  while  respect- 
ing, as  I  do,  public  opinion,  I  have  hardened  some- 
what into  indifference  of  censure.  I  will,  however, 
endeavour  to  write  as  far  as  lies  in  my  power 
(while  recording  facts)  "  in  charity  with  all  men." 
This  can  be  done  in  most  part  by  omitting  the 
names  of  ships  in  which  and  officers  under  whom  I 
have  served. 

I  was  born,  as  the  novelists  say,  of  respectable 
parents,  at  Walton-on-the-Wold,  in  Leicestershire, 
on  April  1,  1822.  I  will  pass  over  my  early  youth, 
which  was,  as  might  be  expected,  from  the  time  of 
my  birth  until  I  was  ten  years  of  age,  without  any 
event  that  could  prove  interesting  to  those  who  are 
kind  enough  to  peruse  these  pages. 
19 


20  HOBART  PASHA 

At  the  age  of  ten  I  was  sent  to  a  well-known 
school  at  Cheam,  in  Surrey,  the  master  of  which, 
Dr.  Mayo,  has  turned  out  some  very  distinguished 
pupils,  of  whom  I  was  not  fated  to  be  one;  for, 
after  a  year  or  so  of  futile  attempt  on  my  part  to 
learn  something,  and  give  promise  that  I  might 
aspire  to  the  woolsack  or  the  premiership,  I  was 
pronounced  hopeless ;  and  having  declared  myself 
anxious  to  emulate  the  deeds  of  Nelson,  and  other 
celebrated  sailors,  it  was  decided  that  I  should  en- 
ter the  navy,  and  steps  were  taken  to  send  me  at 
once  to  sea. 

A  young  cousin  of  mine  *  who  had  been  ad- 
vanced to  the  rank  of  captain,  more  through  the  in- 
fluence of  his  high  connections  than  from  any  merit 
of  his  own,  condescended  to  give  me  a  nomination 
in  a  ship  which  he  had  just  commissioned,  and  thus 
I  was  launched  like  a  young  bear,  "  having  all  his 
sorrows  to  come,"  into  Her  Majesty's  navy  as  a 
naval  cadet.  I  shall  never  forget  the  pride  with 
which  I  donned  my  first  uniform,  little  thinking 
what  I  should  have  to  go  through.  My  only  con- 
solation while  recounting  facts  that  will  make  many 
parents  shudder  at  the  thought  of  what  their 
children  (for  they  are  little  more  when  they  join 
the  service)  were  liable  to  suffer,  is,  that  things  are 
now  totally  altered,  and  that  under  the  present  r£- 

*Sir  Charles  Eden,  afterwards  vice-admiral.     (Ed.) 


A  ROUGH  START  IN  LIFE  21 

gime  every  officer,  whatever  his  rank,  is  treated  like 
a  gentleman,  or  he,  or  his  friends,  can  know  "  the 
reason  why." 

I  am  writing  of  a  period  some  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  after  Marryat  had  astonished  the  world  by 
his  thrilling  descriptions  of  a  naval  officer's  life 
and  its  accompanying  troubles.  At  the  time  of 
which  I  write  people  flattered  themselves  that  the 
sufferings  which  "  Midshipman  Easy  "  and  "  The 
Naval  Officer  "  underwent  while  serving  the  Crown 
were  tales  of  the  past.  I  will  show  by  what  I  am 
about  very  briefly  to  relate  that  such  was  very  far 
from  being  the  case. 

Everything  being  prepared,  and  good-bye  being 
said  to  my  friends,  who  seemed  rather  glad  to  be 
rid  of  me,  I  was  allowed  to  travel  from  London  on 
the  box  of  a  carriage  which  contained  the  great 
man  who  had  given  me  the  nomination  (captains  of 
men-of-war  were  very  great  men  in  those  days), 
and  after  a  long  weary  journey  we  arrived  at  the 

port  where  H.M.S.  *  was  lying  ready  for 

sea.  On  the  same  night  of  our  arrival  the  sailing 
orders  came  from  the  Admiralty ;  we  were  to  go  to 
sea  the  next  day,  our  destination  being  South 
America. 

Being  a  very  insignificant  individual,  I  was  put 
into  a  waterman's  boat  with  my  chest  and  bed,  and 
*The  Rover.  (Ed.) 


22  HOBART  PASHA 

was  sent  on  board.  On  reporting  myself,  I  was 
told  by  the  commanding  officer  not  to  bother  him, 
but  to  go  to  my  mess,  where  I  should  be  taken  care 
of.  On  descending  a  ladder  to  the  lower  deck,  I 
looked  about  for  the  mess,  or  midshipmen's  berth, 
as  it  was  then  called.  In  one  corner  of  this  deck 
was  a  dirty  little  hole  about  ten  feet  long  and  six 
feet  wide,  five  feet  high.  It  was  lighted  by  two 
or  three  dips,  otherwise  tallow  candles,  of  the  com- 
monest description  —  behold  the  mess ! 

In  this  were  seated  six  or  seven  officers  and 
gentlemen,  some  twenty-five  to  thirty  years  of  age, 
called  mates,  meaning  what  are  now  called  sub-lieu- 
tenants. They  were  drinking  rum  and  water  and 
eating  mouldy  biscuits ;  all  were  in  their  shirtsleeves, 
and  really,  considering  the  circumstances,  seemed 
to  be  enjoying  themselves  exceedingly. 

On  my  appearance  it  was  evident  that  I  was 
looked  upon  as  an  interloper,  for  whom,  small  as  I 
was,  room  must  be  found.  I  was  received  with  a 
chorus  of  exclamations,  such  as,  "  What  the  deuce 
does  the  little  fellow  want  here  ?  "  "  Surely  there 
are  enough  of  us  crammed  into  this  beastly  little 
hole !  "  "  Oh,  I  suppose  he  is  some  protege  of  the 
captain's,"  &c.,  &c. 

At  last  one,  more  kindly  disposed  than  the  rest, 
addressed  me :  "  Sorry  there  is  no  more  room  in 
here,  youngster ; "  and  calling  a  dirty-looking  fcl- 


23 

low,  also  in  his  shirtsleeves,  said,  "  Steward,  give 
this  young  gentleman  some  tea  and  bread  and  but- 
ter, and  get  him  a  hammock  to  sleep  in."  So  I 
had  to  be  contented  to  sit  on  a  chest  outside  the 
midshipmen's  berth,  eat  my  tea  and  bread  and  but- 
ter, and  turn  into  a  hammock  for  the  first  time  in 
my  life,  which  means  "  turned  out " —  the  usual 
procedure  being  to  tumble  out  several  times  before 
getting  accustomed  to  this,  to  me,  novel  bedstead. 
However,  once  accustomed  to  the  thing,  it  is  easy 
enough,  and  many  indeed  have  been  the  comfort- 
able nights  I  have  slept  in  a  hammock,  such  a  sleep 
as  many  an  occupant  of  a  luxurious  four-poster 
might  envy.  At  early  dawn  a  noise  all  around  me 
disturbed  my  slumbers:  this  was  caused  by  all 
hands  —  officers  and  men  —  being  called  up  to  re- 
ceive the  captain,  who  was  coming  alongside  to  as- 
sume his  command  by  reading  his  official  appoint- 
ment. 

I  shall  never  forget  his  first  words.  He  was  a 
handsome  young  man,  with  fine  features,  darkened, 
however,  by  a  deep  scowl.  As  he  stepped  over 
the  side  he  greeted  us  by  saying  to  the  first  lieu- 
tenant in  a  loud  voice,  "  Put  all  my  boat's  crew 
in  irons  for  neglect  of  duty."  It  seems  that  one 
of  them  kept  him  waiting  for  a  couple  of  minutes 
when  he  came  down  to  embark.  After  giving  this 
order  our  captain  honored  the  officers  who  received 


24  HOBART  PASHA 

him  with  a  haughty  bow,  read  aloud  his  commis- 
sion, and  retired  to  his  cabin,  having  ordered  the 
anchor  to  be  hoisted  in  two  hours. 

Accordingly  at  eight  o'clock  we  stood  out  to 
sea,  the  weather  being  fine  and  wind  favorable. 
At  eleven  all  hands  were  called  to  attend  the  pun- 
ishment of  the  captain's  boat's  crew.  I  cannot 
describe  the  horror  with  which  I  witnessed  six  fine 
sailor-like  looking  fellows  torn  by  the  frightful 
cat,  for  having  kept  this  officer  waiting  a  few  min- 
utes on  the  pier.  Nor  will  I  dwell  on  this  illegal 
sickening  proceeding,  as  I  do  not  write  to  create  a 
sensation,  and,  thank  goodness  !  such  things  cannot 
be  done  now. 

I  had  not  much  time  for  reflection,  for  my  turn 
came  next.  I  believe  I  cried  or  got  into  some- 
body's way,  or  did  something  to  vex  the  tyrant ;  all 
I  know  is  that  I  heard  myself  addressed  as  "  You 
young  scoundrel,"  and  ordered  to  go  to  the  mast- 
head. Go  to  the  mast-head  indeed !  with  a  freshen- 
ing wind,  under  whose  influence  the  ship  was  be- 
ginning to  heel  over,  and  an  increasing  sea  that 
made  her  jump  about  like  an  acrobat.  I  had  not 
got  my  sea  legs,  and  this  feat  seemed  an  utter  im- 
possibility to  me.  I  looked  aloft  with  horror; 
then  came  over  me  the  remembrance  of  Marryat's 
story  of  the  lad  who  refused  to  go  to  the  mast- 
head, and  who  was  hoisted  up  by  the  signal  hal- 


A  ROUGH  START  IN  LIFE  25 

yards.  While  thinking  of  this,  another  "  Well, 
sir,  why  don't  you  obey  orders  ?  "  started  me  into 
the  lower  rigging,  which  I  began  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  to  climb,  expecting  at  every  step  to  go 
headlong  overboard. 

A  good-natured  sailor,  seeing  the  fix  I  was  in, 
gave  me  a  helping  hand,  and  up  I  crawled  as  far  as 
the  maintop.  This,  I  must  explain  to  my  non- 
nautical  reader,  is  not  the  mast-head,  but  a  com- 
paratively comfortable  half-way  resting-place, 
from  whence  one  can  look  about  feeling  somewhat 
secure. 

On  looking  down  to  the  deck  my  heart  bled  to 
see  the  poor  sailor  who  had  helped  me  undergoing 
punishment  for  his  kind  act.  I  heard  myself  at 
the  same  time  ordered  to  "  go  higher,"  and  a  little 
higher  I  did  go.  Then  I  stopped,  frightened  to 
death,  and  almost  senseless;  terror,  however, 
seemed  to  give  me  presence  of  mind  to  cling  on, 
and  there  I  remained  till  some  hours  afterwards; 
then  I  was  called  down.  On  reaching  the  deck  I 
fainted,  and  knew  no  more  till  I  awoke  after  some 
time  in  my  hammock. 

Now,  I  ask  any  one,  even  a  martinet  at  heart, 
whether  such  treatment  of  a  boy,  not  thirteen 
years  of  age,  putting  his  life  into  the  greatest 
danger,  taking  this  first  step  towards  breaking  his 
spirit,  and  in  all  probability  making  him,  as  most 


26  HOBART  PASHA 

likely  had  been  done  to  the  poor  men  I  had  seen 
flogged  that  morning,  into  a  hardened  mutinous 
savage,  was  not  disgraceful? 

Moreover,  it  was  as  close  akin  to  murder  as  it 
could  be,  for  I  don't  know  how  it  was  I  didn't  fall 
overboard,  and  then  nothing  could  have  saved  my 
life.  However,  as  I  didn't  fall,  I  was  not  drowned, 
and  the  effect  on  me  was  curious  enough.  For  all 
I  had  seen  and  suffered  on  that  the  opening  day 
of  my  sea-life  made  me  think  for  the  first  time  — 
and  I  have  never  ceased  thinking  (half  a  century 
has  passed  since  then) — how  to  oppose  tyranny 
in  every  shape.  Indeed,  I  have  always  done  so 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  have  been  frequently  called 
by  my  superiors  "  a  troublesome  character,"  "  a 
sea  lawyer,"  &c. 

Perhaps  in  this  way  I  have  been  able  to  effect 
something,  however  small,  towards  the  entire 
change  that  has  taken  place  in  the  treatment  of 
those  holding  subordinate  positions  in  the  navy  — 
and  that  something  has  had  its  use,  for  the 
tyrant's  hand  is  by  force  stayed  now,  "  for  once 
and  for  all." 

With  this  little  I  am  satisfied. 

Now  let  us  briefly  look  into  the  question,  '*  Why 
are  men  tyrants  when  they  have  it  in  their  power 
to  be  so?  " 

Unfortunately,  as  a  rule,  it  appears  to  come 


A  ROUGH  START  IN  LIFE  27 

natural  to  them!  What  caused  the  Indian  Mu- 
tiny? Let  Indian  officers  and  those  employed  in 
the  Indian  civil  service  answer  that  question. 

However,  I  have  only  to  do  with  naval  officers. 
My  experience  tells  me  that  a  man  clothed  with 
brief  but  supreme  authority,  such  as  the  command 
of  a  man-of-war,  in  those  days  when  for  months 
and  months  he  was  away  from  all  control  of  his 
superiors  and  out  of  reach  of  public  censure,  is 
more  frequently  apt  to  listen  to  the  promptings  of 
the  devil,  which  more  or  less  attack  every  man, 
especially  when  he  is  alone. 

Away  from  the  softening  influence  of  society 
and  the  wholesome  fear  of  restraint,  for  a  time  at 
least  the  voice  of  his  better  angel  is  silenced. 
Perhaps  also  the  necessarily  solitary  position  of  a 
commander  of  a  man-of-war,  his  long,  lonely  hours, 
the  utter  change  from  the  jovial  life  he  led  previ- 
ous to  being  afloat,  to  say  nothing  of  his  liver  get- 
ting occasionally  out  of  order,  may  all  tend  to 
make  him  irritable  and  despotic. 

I  have  seen  a  captain  order  his  steward  to  be 
flogged,  almost  to  death,  because  his  pea-soup  was 
not  hot.  I  have  seen  an  officer  from  twenty  to 
twenty-five  years  of  age  made  to  stand  between 
two  guns  with  a  sentry  over  him  for  hours,  be- 
cause he  had  neglected  to  see  and  salute  the  tyrant 
who  had  come  on  deck  in  the  dark.  And  as  a 


28  HOBART  PASHA 

proof,  though  it  seems  scarcely  credible,  of  what 
such  men  can  do  when  unchecked  by  fear  of  con- 
sequences, I  will  cite  the  following:  — 

On  one  occasion  the  captain  of  whom  I  have 
been  writing  invited  a  friend  to  breakfast  with  him, 
and  there  being,  I  suppose,  a  slight  monotony  in 
the  conversation,  he  asked  his  guest  whether  he 
would  like,  by  way  of  diversion,  to  see  a  man 
flogged.  The  amusement  was  accepted,  and  a 
man  was  flogged. 

It  was  about  the  time  I  write  of  that  the  tyr- 
anny practiced  on  board  her  Majesty's  ships  was 
slowly  but  surely  dawning  upon  the  public,  and  a 
general  outcry  against  injustice  began. 

This  was  shown  in  a  very  significant  manner 
by  the  following  fact :  — 

A  post-captain  of  high  rank  and  powerful  con- 
nections dared,  in  contradiction  to  naval  law,  to 
flog  a  midshipman.  This  young  officer's  father, 
happening  to  be  a  somewhat  influential  man,  made 
a  stir  about  the  affair.  The  honorable  captain 
was  tried  by  court-martial  and  severely  repri- 
manded. 

However,  I  will  cut  short  these  perhaps  uninter- 
esting details,  merely  stating  that  for  three  years 
I  suffered  most  shameful  treatment.  My  last  in- 
terview with  my  amiable  cousin  is  worth  relating. 
The  ship  was  paid  off,  and  the  captain,  on  going 


A  ROUGH  START  IN  LIFE  29 

to  the  hotel  at  Portsmouth,  sent  for  me  and  offered 
me  a  seat  on  his  carriage  to  London.  Full  of  dis- 
gust and  horror  at  the  very  sight  of  him,  I  replied 
that  I  would  rather  "  crawl  home  on  my  hands  and 
knees  than  go  in  his  carriage,"  and  so  ended  our 
acquaintance,  for  I  never  saw  him  again. 

It  may  be  asked  how,  like  many  others,  I  tided 
over  all  the  ill-usage  and  the  many  trials  endured 
during  three  years.  The  fact  is,  I  had  become 
during  that  period  of  ill-treatment  so  utterly 
hardened  to  it  that  I  seemed  to  feel  quite  indif- 
ferent and  didn't  care  a  rap.  But  wasn't  I  glad 
to  be  free! 

I  had  learnt  many  a  lesson  of  use  to  me  in  after 
life,  the  most  important  of  all  being  to  sympathise 
with  other  people's  miseries,  and  to  make  allowance 
for  the  faults  and  shortcomings  of  humanity. 

On  the  other  hand,  experience  is  a  severe  task- 
master, and  it  taught  me  to  be  somewhat  insub- 
ordinate in  my  notions.  I  fear  I  must  confess 
that  this  spirit  of  insubordination  has  never  left 
me. 

On  my  arrival  at  home  my  relations  failed  to 
see  in  me  an  ill-used  lad  (I  was  only  sixteen),  and 
seemed  inclined  to  disbelieve  my  yarns ;  but  this  did 
not  alter  the  facts,  nor  can  I  ever  forget  what  I 
went  through  during  that  reign  of  terror,  as  it 
might  well  be  called. 


30  HOBART  PASHA 

People  may  wonder  how  was  it  in  the  days  of 
Benbow  and  his  contemporaries  no  complaints  were 
made.  To  this  I  answer,  first,  that  the  men  of 
those  days,  knowing  the  utter  hopelessness  of  com- 
plaining, preferred  to  grin  and  bear;  secondly, 
that  neither  officers  nor  men  were  supposed  to  pos- 
sess such  a  thing  as  feeling,  when  they  had  once 
put  their  foot  on  board  a  man-of-war.  Then  there 
were  the  almost  interminable  sea  voyages  under 
sail,  during  which  unspeakable  tyrannies  could  be 
practised,  unheard  of  beyond  the  ship,  and  un- 
punished. It  must  be  remembered  that  there  were 
no  telegraphs,  no  newspaper  correspondents,  no 
questioning  public,  so  that  the  evil  side  of  human 
nature  (so  often  shown  in  the  very  young  in  their 
cruelty  to  animals)  had  its  swing,  fearless  of  retri- 
bution. 

Let  us  leave  this  painful  subject,  with  the  con- 
soling thought  that  we  shall  never  see  the  like 
again. 


CHAPTER  II 

PERILS    BY    SEA    AND    LAND 

AFTER  enjoying  a  few  weeks  at  home,  I  was 
appointed  to  the  Naval  Brigade  on  service 
in   Spain,  acting  with  the  English  army, 
who  were  there  by  way  of  assisting  Queen  Chris- 
tina against  Don  Carlos. 

The  army  was  a  curious  collection  of  regular 
troops  and  volunteer  soldiers,  the  latter  what  would 
be  called  Bashi-Bazouks.  The  naval  part  of  the 
expedition  consisted  of  1,200  Royal  Marines,  and 
a  brigade  of  sailors  under  the  orders  of  Lord  John 
Hay.  The  army  (barring  the  regulars,  who  were 
few  in  numbers)  was  composed  of  about  15,000  of 
the  greatest  rabble  I  ever  saw,  commanded  by  Sir 
De  Lacy  Evans.* 

For  fear  any  objection  or  misapprehension  be 
applied  to  the  word  "  rabble,"  I  must  at  once  state 
that  these  volunteers,  though  in  appearance  so 

*  He  had  not  yet  been  knighted.  There  is  an  evident 
confusion  of  dates  in  this  story,  and  it  has  even  been 
charged  that  Hobart  was  not  present  at  this  battle  at  all. 
(Ed.) 

31 


38  HOBART  PASHA 

motley  and  undisciplined,  fought  splendidly,  and 
in  that  respect  did  all  honor  to  their  country  and 
the  cause  they  were  fighting  for. 

Very  soon  after  we  had  disembarked  I  received 
what  is  usually  called  my  baptism  of  fire,  that  is  to 
say,  I  witnessed  the  first  shot  fired  in  anger.  The 
Carlists  were  pressing  hard  on  the  Queen's  forces, 
who  were  returning  towards  the  sea ;  it  was  of 
the  greatest  importance  to  hold  certain  heights 
that  defended  San  Sebastian  and  the  important 
port  of  Passagis. 

The  gallant  marines  (as  usual  to  the  front) 
were  protecting  the  hill  on  which  Lord  John  was 
standing;  the  fire  was  hot  and  furious.  I  can- 
didly admit  I  was  in  mortal  fear,  and  when  a  shell 
dropped  right  in  the  middle  of  us,  and  was,  I 
thought,  going  to  burst  (as  it  did),  I  fell  down  on 
my  face.  Lord  John,  who  was  close  to  me,  and 
looking  as  cool  as  a  cucumber,  gave  me  a  severe 
kick,  saying,  "  Get  up,  you  cowardly  young  ras- 
cal; are  you  not  ashamed  of  yourself?  " 

I  did  get  up  and  was  ashamed  of  myself.  From 
that  moment  to  this  I  have  never  been  hard  upon 
those  who  flinched  at  the  first  fire  they  were  under. 
My  pride  helped  me  out  of  the  difficulty,  and  I 
flinched  no  more.  For  an  hour  or  so  the  battle 
raged  furiously. 

By  degrees  all  fear  left  me;  I  felt  only  excite- 


PERILS  BY  SEA  AND  LAND          33 

ment  and  anger,  and  when  we  (a  lot  I  had  to  do 
with  it!)  drove  the  enemy  back  in  the  utmost  con- 
fusion, wasn't  I  proud! 

When  all  was  over  Lord  John  called  me,  and 
after  apologising  in  the  most  courteous  manner  for 
the  kick,  he  gave  me  his  hand  (poor  fellow !  he  had 
already  lost  one  arm  while  fighting  for  his  coun- 
try), and  said:  "Don't  be  discouraged,  young- 
ster; you  are  by  no  means  the  first  who  has  shown 
alarm  on  being  for  the  first  time  under  fire."  So 
I  was  happy. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  give  in  detail  the  events 
that  I  witnessed  during  that  disastrous  civil  war  in 
Spain ;  suffice  it  that  after  much  hard  fighting  the 
Carlists  were  driven  back  into  their  mountains  so 
much  discouraged-  that  they  eventually  renounced 
a  hopeless  cause;  and  at  all  events  for  a  long  pe- 
riod order  was  restored  in  Spain. 

After  serving  under  Lord  John  Hay  for  six  or 
seven  months,  I  was  appointed  to  another  ship,* 
which  was  ordered  to  my  old  station,  South 
America. 

The  captain  of  my  new  ship  was  in  every  sense 
i  gentleman,  and  although  a  strict  disciplinarian, 
was  just  and  kind-hearted.  From  the  captain 
downwards  every  officer  was  the  same  in  thought 

*  Hobart's  second  ship  was  the  Rose,  which  he  joined  in 
October,  1838.  (Ed.) 


84.  HOBART  PASHA 

and  deed,  so  we  were  all  as  happy  as  sand-boys. 
It  was  then  that  I  began  to  realise  a  fact  of  which 
before  I  had  only  a  notion  —  namely,  that  dis- 
cipline can  be  maintained  without  undue  severity, 
to  say  nothing  of  cruelty,  and  that  service  in  the 
navy  could  be  made  a  pleasure  as  well  as  a  duty 
to  one's  country. 

After  visiting  Rio  de  Janeiro,  we  were  sent  to 
the  River  Plate ;  there  we  remained  nearly  a  year, 
during  which  time  several  adventures  which  I  will 
relate  occurred,  both  concerning  my  duties  and 
my  amusements. 

I  must  tell  my  readers  that  from  earliest  boy- 
hood I  had  a  passionate  love  for  shooting;  and, 
through  the  kindness  of  my  commanding  officer  * 
while  at  Monte  Video,  I  was  allowed  constantly 
to  indulge  in  sport. 

On  one  occasion  my  captain,  who  was  a  keen 
sportsman,  took  me  with  him  out  shooting.  We 
had  a  famous  day's  sport,  filled  our  game  bags 
with  partridges,  ducks,  and  snipe,  and  were  re- 
turning home  on  horseback  when  a  solitary  horse- 
man, a  nasty-looking  fellow,  armed  to  the  teeth, 
rode  up  to  us.  As  I  knew  a  little  Spanish  we 
began  to  talk  about  shooting,  &c.,  &c. ;  then  he 
asked  me  to  shoot  a  bird  for  him  (the  reason  why 
he  did  this  will  be  seen  immediately).  I  didn't 
*  Lieutenant  Christie.  (Ed.) 


PERILS  BY  SEA  AND  LAND          35 

like  the  cut  of  his  jib,  so  rather  snubbed  him. 
However,  he  continued  to  ride  on  with  us,  to  within 
half  a  mile  of  where  our  boat  was  waiting  to  take 
us  on  board.  I  must  explain  our  relative  posi- 
tions as  we  rode  along.  The  captain  was  on  my 
left,  I  next  to  him,  and  the  man  was  on  my  right, 
riding  very  near  to  me.  All  of  a  sudden  he  ex- 
claimed in  Spanish,  "  Now  is  the  time  or  never," 
threw  his  right  leg  over  the  pommel  of  his  saddle, 
slipped  on  to  the  ground,  drew  his  knife,  dashed 
at  me,  and  after  snatching  my  gun  from  my  hand, 
stuck  his  knife  (as  he  thought)  into  me.  Then 
he  rushed  towards  the  captain,  pulling  the  trigger 
of  my  gun,  and  pointing  straight  at  the  latter's 
head ;  the  gun  was  not  loaded,  having  only  the  old 
percussion  caps  on.  (Now  I  saw  why  he  wanted 
me  to  fire,  so  that  he  might  know  whether  my  gun 
was  loaded;  but  the  old  caps  evidently  deceived 
him.) 

All  this  was  the  work  of  a  very  few  seconds. 
Now  what  was  my  chief  doing?  Seeing  a  row 
going  on,  he  was  dismounting;  in  fact,  was  half- 
way off  his  horse,  only  one  foot  in  the  stirrup, 
when  the  man  made  the  rush  at  him.  Finding  me 
stuck  to  my  saddle  (for  the  ruffian's  knife  had 
gone  through  my  coat  and  pinned  me),  and  the 
fellow  snapping  my  gun,  which  was  pointed  at 
him,  he  as  coolly  as  possible  put  his  gun  over  his 


36  HOBART  PASHA 

horse's  shoulder  and  shot  the  would-be  murderer 
dead  on  the  spot.  Then  turning  to  me  he  said 
quite  calmly,  "  I  call  you  to  witness  that  that  man 
intended  to  murder  me."  How  differently  all 
would  have  ended  had  my  gun  been  loaded !  The 
villain  would  have  shot  my  chief,  taken  both  guns, 
and  galloped  off,  leaving  me  ignominiously  stuck 
to  my  saddle. 

The  audacity  of  this  one  man  attacking  us  two 
armed  sportsmen  showed  the  immense  confidence 
these  prairie  people  feel  in  themselves,  especially 
in  their  superior  horsemanship.  However,  the  fel- 
low caught  a  Tartar  on  this  occasion. 

As  for  me,  the  knife  had  gone,  as  I  said,  through 
my  loose  shooting  jacket  just  below  the  waist, 
through  the  upper  part  of  my  trousers,  and  so 
into  the  saddle,  without  even  touching  my  skin. 
I  have  kept  the  knife  in  memory  of  my  lucky 
escape. 

While  laying  at  Monte  Video  there  was  on  each 
side  of  us  a  French  man-of-war,  the  officers  of 
which  were  very  amiably  inclined,  and  many  were 
the  dinners  and  parties  exchanged  between  us. 

In  those  days  the  interchange  of  our  respective 
languages  was  very  limited  on  both  sides,  so  much 
so,  that  our  frantic  efforts  to  understand  each 
other  were  a  constant  source  of  amusement.  A 
French  midshipman  and  myself,  however,  con- 


PERILS  BY  SEA  AND  LAND          37 

sidered  ourselves  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  pro- 
fessed linguists ;  so  on  the  principle  that  in  the 
"  land  of  the  blind  the  one-eyed  man  is  king,"  we 
were  the  swells  of  the  festivities. 

I  remember  on  one  occasion,  when  the  birthday 
of  Louis  Philippe  was  to  be  celebrated,  my  French 
midshipman  friend  came  on  board  officially  and 
said,  "  Sir,  the  first  of  the  month  is  the  feast  of 
the  King ;  you  must  fire  the  gun."  "  All  right," 
said  we.  Accordingly,  we  loaded  our  guns  in  the 
morning,  preparatory  to  saluting  at  noon.  It 
was  raining  heavily  all  the  forenoon,  so  we  had 
not  removed  what  is  called  the  tompions  (to  my 
unprofessional  reader  I  may  say  that  the  tompion 
is  a  very  large  piece  of  wood  made  to  fit  into  the 
muzzle,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  wet  from 
penetrating).  To  this  tompion  is,  or  used  to  be, 
attached  a  large  piece  of  wadding,  what  for  I 
never  rightly  understood. 

Now  it  seems  that  those  whose  duty  it  was  to 
attend  to  it  had  neglected  to  take  these  things 
out  of  the  guns. 

On  the  first  gun  being  fired  from  the  French  ship 
we  began  our  salute.  The  French  ships  were  close 
alongside  of  us,  one  on  either  side.  The  gunner 
who  fires  stands  with  the  hand-glass  to  mark  the 
time  between  each  discharge.  On  this  occasion 
he  began  his  orders  thus :  "  Fire,  port !  "  then 


38  HOBART  PASHA 

suddenly  recollecting  that  the  tompions  were  not 
removed  he  added,  "  Tompions  are  in,  sir."  No 
one  moved.  The  gunner  could  not  leave  his  work 
of  marking  time.  Again  he  gave  the  order, 
"  Fire,  starboard,"  repeating,  "  Tompions  are  in, 
sir,"  and  so  on  till  half  the  broadside  had  been 
fired  before  the  tompions  had  been  taken  out.  It 
is  difficult  to  describe  the  consternation  on  board 
the  French  vessels,  whose  decks  were  crowded  with 
strangers  (French  merchants,  &c.),  invited  from 
the  shore  to  do  honor  to  their  King's  fete.  These 
horrid  tompions  and  their  adjuncts  went  flying 
on  to  their  decks,  from  which  every  one  scampered 
in  confusion.  It  was  lucky  our  guns  did  not 
burst. 

This  was  a  most  awkward  dilemma  for  all  of 
us.  I  was  sent  on  board  to  apologise.  The 
French  captain,  with  the  courtesy  of  his  nation, 
took  the  mishap  most  good-humoredly,  begging 
me  to  return  the  tompions  to  my  captain,  as  they 
had  no  occasion  for  them.  So  no  bad  feeling  wa» 
created,  though  shortly  after  this  contretemps  an 
affair  of  so  serious  a  nature  took  place,  that  a 
certain  coldness  crept  in  between  ourselves  and 
our  ci-devant  friends.* 

It  seems   that  there  had  been  of  late  several 

*  This  extraordinary  incident  of  the  tompions  is  a  fact  set 
down  in  naval  records.     (Ed.) 


PERILS  BY  SEA  AND  LAND          39 

desertions  from  the  French  vessels  lying  at  IVJonte 
Video,  great  inducements  of  very  high  wages  beihg 
offered  by  the  revolutionary  party  in  Buenos  Ayrer 
for  men  to  serve  them.  The  French  commander 
therefore  determined  to  search  all  vessels  leaving 
Monte  Video  for  other  ports  in  the  River  Plate  — 
a  somewhat  arbitrary  proceeding,  and  one  certain 
to  lead  to  misunderstanding  sooner  or  later. 

On  the  occasion  I  refer  to,  a  vessel  which,  though 
not  under  the  English  flag,  had  in  some  way  or 
other  obtained  English  protection,  was  leaving  the 
port ;  so  we  sent  an  officer  and  a  party  of  armed 
men  to  prevent  her  being  interfered  with.  I  was 
of  the  party,  which  was  commanded  by  our  second 
lieutenant.  Our  doing  this  gave  great  offence  to 
the  French  commander,  who  shortly  after  we  had 
gone  on  board  also  sent  a  party  of  armed  men, 
with  positive  orders  to  search  the  vessel  at  all 
risks.  On  our  part  we  were  ordered  not  to  allow 
the  vessel  to  be  searched  or  interfered  with.  The 
French  officer,  a  fine  young  fellow,  came  on  board 
with  his  men  and  repeated  his  orders  to  Lieutenant 

C .  The  vessel,  I  may  mention,  was  a 

schooner  of  perhaps  a  couple  of  hundred  tons, 
about  130  feet  long.  We  had  taken  possession 
of  the  after-part  of  the  deck;  the  French  crew 
established  themselves  on  the  forepart. 

Never  was  there  a  more  awkward  position.     The 


40  HOBART  PASHA 

men  on  both  sides  loaded  and  cocked  their  muskets. 
The  English  and  French  officers  stood  close  to  one 
another.  The  former  said,  "  Sir,  you  have  no 
business  here ;  this  vessel  is  under  English  protec- 
tion. I  give  you  five  minutes  to  leave,  or  take  the 
consequences."  The  other  replied,  "  Sir,  I  am 
ordered  to  search  the  vessel,  and  search  her  I 
will."  They  both  seemed  to,  and  I  am  sure  did, 
mean  business ;  for  myself,  I  got  close  to  my  lieu- 
tenant and  cocked  a  pistol,  intending  to  shoot  the 
French  officer  at  the  least  show  of  fighting.  Never- 
theless, I  thought  it  a  shockingly  cruel  and  in- 
human thing  to  begin  a  cold-blooded  fight  under 
such  circumstances. 

However,  to  obey  orders  is  the  duty  of  every 

man.  Lieutenant  C looked  at  his  watch; 

two  minutes  to  spare.  The  marines  were  ordered 
to  prepare,  and  I  thought  at  the  end  of  the  two 
minutes  the  deck  of  the  little  vessel  would  have 
been  steeped  in  blood.  Just  then,  in  the  distance, 
there  appeared  a  boat  pulling  towards  us  at  full 
speed;  it  seems  that  wiser  counsels  had  prevailed 
between  the  captains  of  the  two  ships:  the  French 
were  told  to  withdraw  and  leave  the  vessel  in  our 
hands. 

I  was  much  amused  at  the  cordial  way  in  which 
the  two  lieutenants  shook  hands  on  receiving  this 
order.  There  would  indeed  have  been  a  fearful 


PERILS  BY  SEA  AND  LAND          41 

story  to  tell  had  it  not  arrived  in  time;  for  I  never 
saw  determination  written  so  strongly  on  men's, 
countenances  as  on  those  of  both  parties,  so  nearly, 
engaged  in  what  must  have  proved  a  most  bloody 
fight. 

After  this  incident  cordial  relations  were  never 
re-established  between  ourselves  and  our  French 
friends;  fortunately,  shortly  afterwards  we  sailed 
for  Buenos  Ayres. 

Buenos  Ayres,  that  paradise  of  pretty  women, 
good  cheer,  and  all  that  is  nice  to  the  sailor  who  is 
always  ready  for  a  lark !  We  at  once  went  in  for 
enjoying  ourselves  to  our  heart's  content;  we  be- 
gan, every  one  of  us,  by  falling  deeply  in  love 
before  we  had  been  there  forty-eight  hours  —  I 
say  every  one,  because  such  is  a  fact. 

My  respectable  captain,  who  had  been  for  many 
years  living  as  a  confirmed  bachelor  with  his  only 
relative,  an  old  spinster  sister,  with  whom  he 
chummed,  and  I  fancy  had  hardly  been  known  to 
speak  to  another  woman,  was  suddenly  perceived 
walking  about  the  street  with  a  large  bouquet  in 
his  hand,  his  hair  well  oiled,  his  coat  (generally 
so  loose  and  comfortable-looking)  buttoned  tight 
to  show  off  his  figure;  and  then  he  took  to  sport- 
ing beautiful  kid  gloves,  and  even  to  dancing.  He 
could  not  be  persuaded  to  go  on  board  at  any 
cost,  while  he  had  never  left  his  ship  before,  ex- 


42  HOBART  PASHA 

cept  for  an  occasional  day's  shooting.  In  short, 
he  had  fallen  hopelessly  in  love  with  a  buxom 
Spanish  lady  with  lustrous  eyes  as  black  as  her 
hair,  the  widow  of  a  murdered  governor  of  the 
town. 

Our  first  and  second  lieutenants  followed  suit ; 
both  were  furiously  in  love;  and,  I  said,  every  one 
fell  down  and  worshipped  the  lovely  (and  lovely 
they  were,  and  no  mistake)  Spanish  girls  of 
Buenos  Ayres,  whose  type  of  beauty  is  that  which 
only  the  blue  blood  of  Spain  can  boast  of.  Now, 
reader,  don't  be  shocked,  I  fell  in  love  myself,  and 
my  love  affair  proved  of  a  more  serious  nature, 
at  least  in  its  results,  than  that  of  the  others,  be- 
cause, while  the  daughter  (she  was  sixteen,  and  I 
seventeen)  responded  to  my  affection,  her  mother, 
a  handsome  woman  of  forty,  chose  to  fall  in  love 
with  me  herself. 

This  was  rather  a  disagreeable  predicament,  for 
I  didn't,  of  course,  return  the  mother's  affection 
a  bit,  while  I  was  certainly  dreadfully  spoony  on 
the  daughter. 

To  make  a  long  story  short,  the  girl  and  I,  like 
two  fools  as  we  were,  decided  to  run  away  to- 
gether, and  run  away  we  did.  I  should  have  been 
married  if  the  mother  hadn't  run  after  us.  She 
didn't  object  to  our  being  married,  but,  in  the 
meantime,  she  remained  with  us,  and  she  managed 


PERILS  BY  SEA  AND  LAND          43 

to  make  the  country  home  we  had  escaped  to,  with 
the  intention  of  settling  down  there,  so  unbearable, 
that,  luckily  for  me  as  regards  my  future,  I  con- 
trived to  get  away,  and  went  as  fast  as  I  could  on 
board  my  ship  for  refuge,  never  landing  again 
during  our  stay  at  Buenos  Ayres. 

Fortunately,  shortly  afterwards  we  were  ordered 
away,  and  so  ended  my  first  love  affair. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  melancholy,  woebegone 
faces  of  my  captain  and  brother  officers  on  our 
reassembling  on  board.  It  was  really  most  ludi- 
crous. However,  a  sea  voyage  which  included  sev- 
eral sharp  gales  of  wind  soon  erased  all  sad  mem- 
ories ;  things  gradually  brightened,  and  ere  many 
weeks  had  passed  all  on  board  H.M.S.  re- 
sumed their  usual  appearance. 


CHAPTER  III 

A    TRAGICAL   AFFAIR 

WHILST  I  was  at  Buenos  Ayres  I  had  the 
good  luck  to  visit  the  independent  prov- 
ince of  Paraguay,  which  my  readers  must 
have  heard  spoken  of,  sometimes  with  admiration, 
sometimes  with  sneers,  as  the  hot-bed  of  Jesuitism. 
Those  who  sneer  say  that  the  Jesuit  fathers  who 
left  Spain  under  Martin  Garcia  formed  this  colony 
in  the  River  Plate  entirely  in  accordance  with  the 
principles  their  egotism  and  love  of  power  dictated. 
It  may  be  so ;  it  is  possible  that  the  Jesuits  were 
wrong  in  the  conclusions  they  came  to  as  regards 
the  governing  or  guiding  of  human  nature;  all  I 
can  say  is,  that  the  perfect  order  reigning  through- 
out the  colony  they  had  formed,  the  respect  for 
the  clergy,  the  cheerful  obedience  to  Jaws,  the 
industry  and  peaceful  happiness  one  saw  at  every 
step,  made  an  impression  on  me  I  have  never  for- 
gotten; and  when  I  compare  it  with  the  discord, 
the  crime,  and  the  hatred  of  all  authority  which 
is  now  prevailing,  alas !  in  most  civilised  countries, 
I  look  back  to  what  I  saw  in  Paraguay  with  a  sigh 

44 


A  TRAGICAL  AFFAIR  45 

of  regret  that  such  things  are  of  the  past.  It 
was  beautiful  to  see  the  respect  paid  to  the  Church 
(the  acknowledged  ruler  of  the  place),  the  cleanli- 
ness and  comfort  of  the  farms  and  villages,  the 
good-will  and  order  that  prevailed  amongst  the 
natives.  It  was  most  interesting  to  visit  the 
schools,  where  only  so  much  learning  was  intro- 
duced as  was  considered  necessary  for  the  minds 
of  the  industrious  population,  without  rendering 
them  troublesome  to  the  colony  or  to  themselves. 
Though  the  inhabitants  were  mostly  of  the  fiery 
and  ungovernable  Spanish  race,  who  had  mixed 
with  the  wild  aborigines,  it  is  remarkable  that  they 
remained  quiet  and  submissive. 

To  prevent  pernicious  influences  reaching  this 
"  happy  valley,"  the  strictest  regulations  were 
maintained  as  regards  strangers  visiting  the 
colony. 

The  River  Plate,  which,  coming  down  from  the 
Andes  through  hundreds  of  miles  of  rich  country, 
flows  through  Paraguay,  was  unavailable  to  com- 
merce owing  to  this  law  of  exclusiveness,  which 
prevented  even  the  water  which  washed  the  shores 
being  utilised.  However,  about  the  time  I  speak 
of  the  English  government  had  determined,  in  the 
general  interests  of  trade,  to  oppose  this  monopoly, 
and  to  open  a  way  of  communication  up  the  river 
by  force  if  necessary.  The  Paraguayans  refused 


46  .        HOBART  PASHA 

to  accept  the  propositions  made  by  the  English, 
and  prepared  to  fight  for  their  so-called  rights. 
They  threw  a  formidable  barrier  across  the  stream, 
and  made  a  most  gallant  resistance.  It  was  on 
this  occasion  that  Captain  (now  Admiral) 

H *  performed  the  courageous  action  which 

covered  him  with  renown  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 
The  enemy  had,  amongst  other  defences,  placed 
a  heavy  iron  chain  across  the  river.  This  chain 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  remove,  and  the 
gallant  officer  I  refer  to,  who  commanded  the  at- 
tack squadron,  set  a  splendid  example  to  us  all  by 
dashing  forward  and  cutting  with  a  cold  chisel 
the  links  of  this  chain.  The  whole  time  he  was 
thus  at  work  he  was  exposed  to  a  tremendous  fire, 
having  two  men  killed  and  two  wounded  out  of 
the  six  he  took  with  him.  This  deed,  now  almost 
forgotten  by  the  public,  can  never  be  effaced  from 
the  memory  of  those  who  saw  it  done.  That  the 
fight  was  a  severe  one  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
the  vessel  I  belonged  to  had  107  shots  in  her  hull, 
and  thirty-five  out  of  seventy  men  killed  and 
wounded. 

It  was  after  we  had  thus  forced  ourselves  into 
intercourse  with  the  Paraguayans  that  I  saw  an 
instance  of  want  of  tact  which  struck  me  as  most 

*  Sir  James  Hope,  at  that  time  captain  of  the  Firebrand. 
The  cable  was  really  cut  by  an  assistant  engineer.  (Ed.) 


A  TRAGICAL  AFFAIR  47 

remarkable.  Fighting  being  over,  diplomacy 
stepped  in,  and  a  man  of  somewhat  high  rank  in 
that  service  was  sent  to  make  friendly  overtures 
to  the  authorities.  Can  it  be  believed  (I  do  not 
say  it  as  a  sneer  against  diplomacy,  for  this 
blunder  was  really  itriujue),  this  big  man  had 
scarcely  finished  the  pipe  of  peace  which  he  smoked 
with  the  authorities,  when  he  proposed  to  intro- 
duce vaccination  and  tracts  among  the  people? 
Badly  as  the  poor  fellows  felt  the  licking  they  had 
received,  and  much  as  they  feared  another  should 
they  give  trouble  to  the  invaders,  they  so  resented 
our  representative's  meddling  that  he  found  it  bet- 
ter to  beat  a  hasty  retreat,  and  to  send  a  wiser 
man  in  his  stead.  But  their  fate  was  sealed,  and 
from  the  moment  the  stranger  put  his  foot  into 
this  interesting  country  dates  its  entire  change. 
The  system  that  the  Jesuits  established  was  quickly 
done  away  with.  Paraguay  is  now  a  part  of  the 
Argentine  Republic,  it  is  generally  at  war  with 
some  of  its  neighbors,  and  its  inhabitants  are  poor, 
disorderly,  and  wretched. 

As  I  shall  have,  while  telling  the  story  of  my 
life,  to  relate  more  serious  events,  I  will,  after 
recounting  one  more  yarn,  not  weary  my  readers 
with  the  little  uninteresting  details  of  my  youth- 
ful adventures,  but  pass  over  the  next  three  years 
or  so,  at  which  time,  after  having  returned  to 


48  HOBART  PASHA 

England,  I  was  appointed  to  another  ship  going 
to  South  America,  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
down  the  slave  trade  in  the  Brazils.  The  ad- 
venture to  which  I  have  referred  was  one  that  made 
a  deep  impression  on  my  mind,  as  being  of  a  most 
tragic  nature. 

While  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  we  were  in  the  habit 
of  visiting  among  the  people,  attending  dances, 
&c.  I  always  remarked  that  the  pretty  young 
Brazilian  girls  liked  dancing  with  the  fresh  young 
English  sailors  better  than  with  their  mud-colored 
companions  of  the  male  sex,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
country. 

At  the  time  I  write  of  the  English  were  not 
liked  by  the  Brazilians,  partly  on  account  of  the 
raid  we  were  then  making  on  the  slave  trade, 
partly  through  the  usual  jealousy  always  felt  by 
the  ignorant  towards  the  enlightened.  So  with 
the  men  we  were  seldom  or  ever  on  good  terms,  but 
with  the  girls  somehow  sailors  always  contrive  to 
be  friends. 

It  was  at  one  of  the  dances  I  have  spoken  of 
that  the  scene  I  am  about  to  describe  took 
place. 

Among  the  pretty  girls  who  attended  the  ball 
was  one  prettier  perhaps  than  any  of  her  com- 
panions ;  indeed,  she  was  called  the  belle  of  Rio 
Janeiro.  I  will  not  attempt  to  portray  her,  but 


A  TRAGICAL  AFFAIR  49 

I  must  own  she  was  far  too  bewitching  for  the 
peace  of  heart  of  her  many  admirers,  and  un- 
happily she  was  an  unmitigated  flirt  in  every 
sense  of  the  word. 

Now  there  was  a  young  Brazilian  nobleman  who 
had,  as  he  thought,  been  making  very  successful 
progress  towards  winning  this  girl's  heart  —  if 
she  had  a  heart.  All  was  progressing  smoothly 
enough  till  these  hapless  English  sailors  arrived. 

Then,  perhaps  with  the  object  of  making  her 
lover  jealous  (a  very  common  though  dangerous 
game),  Mademoiselle  pretended  (for  I  presume  it 
was  pretence)  to  be  immensely  smitten  with  one  of 
them  —  a  handsome  young  midshipman  whom  we 
will  call  A. 

At  the  ball  where  the  incident  I  refer  to  oc- 
curred, she  danced  once  with  him,  twice  with  him, 
and  was  about  to  start  with  him  a  third  time, 
when,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  lookers-on,  of 
whom  I  formed  part,  the  young  Brazilian  rushed 
into  the  middle  of  the  room  where  the  couple  were 
standing,  walked  close  up  to  them  and  spat  in  A.'s 
face. 

Before  the  aggressor  could  look  round  him,  he 
found  himself  sprawling  on  the  floor,  knocked  by 
the  angry  Briton  into  what  is  commonly  called 
"  a  cocked  hat."  Not  a  word  was  spoken.  A. 
wiped  his  face,  led  his  partner  to  a  seat  and  came 


50  HOBART  PASHA 

straight  to  me,  putting  his  arm  in  mine  and  lead- 
ing me  into  the  verandah.  The  Brazilian  picked 
himself  up  and  came  also  into  the  verandah;  in 
less  time  than  I  can  write  it  a  hostile  meeting  was 
settled,  pistols  were  procured,  and  we  (I  say  we, 
because  I  had  undertaken  to  act  as  A.'s  friend, 
and  the  Brazilian  had  also  engaged  a  friend) 
sauntered  into  the  garden  as  if  for  a  stroll. 

It  was  a  most  lovely  moonlight  night,  such  a 
night  as  can  only  be  seen  in  the  tropics. 

I  should  mention  that  the  chief  actors  in  the 
coming  conflict  had  neither  of  them  seen  twenty 
years,  and  we  their  seconds  were  considerably 
under  that  age.  The  aggressor,  whose  jealous 
fury  had  driven  him  almost  to  madness  when  he 
committed  an  outrageous  affront  on  a  stranger, 
was  a  tall,  handsome,  dark-complexioned  young 
fellow.  A.  was  also  very  good-looking,  with  a 
baby  complexion,  blue  eyes  and  light  curly  hair, 
a  very  type  of  the  Saxon  race. 

They  both  looked  determined  and  calm.  After 
proceeding  a  short  distance  we  found  a  convenient 
spot  in  a  lovely  glade.  It  was  almost  as  clear  as 
day,  so  bright  was  the  moonlight.  The  distance 
was  measured  (fourteen  paces),  the  pistols  care- 
fully loaded.  Before  handing  them  to  the  princi- 
pals we  made  an  effort  at  arrangement,  an  effort 
too  contemptuously  received  to  be  insisted  upon, 


A  TRAGICAL  AFFAIR  51 

and  we  saw  that  any  attempt  at  reconciliation 
would  be  of  no  avail  without  the  exchange  of  shots ; 
«o,  handing  to  each  his  weapon,  we  retired  a  short 
distance  to  give  the  signal  for  firing,  which  was 
to  be  done  by  my  dropping  a  pocket-handkerchief. 
It  was  an  anxious  moment  even  for  us,  who  were 
only  lookers-on.  I  gave  the  words,  one,  two,  three, 
and  dropped  the  handkerchief. 

The  pistols  went  off  simultaneously.  To  my 
horror  I  saw  the  young  Brazilian  spin  round  and 
drop  to  the  ground,  his  face  downwards ;  we  rushed 
up  to  him  and  found  that  the  bullet  from  A.'s 
pistol  had  gone  through  his  brain.  He  was  stone 
dead. 

Then  the  solemnity  of  the  whole  affair  dawned 
on  us,  but  there  was  no  time  for  thought.  Some- 
thing must  be  done  at  once,  for  revenge  quick  and 
fearful  was  sure  to  follow  such  a  deed  like  light- 
ning. 

We  determined  to  hurry  A.  off  to  his  ship,  and 
I  begged  the  young  Brazilian  to  go  into  the  house 
and  break  the  sad  news.  The  poor  fellow,  though 
fearfully  cut  up,  behaved  like  a  gentleman,  walk- 
ing slowly  away  so  as  to  give  us  time  to  escape. 
As  we  passed  the  scene  of  gaiety  the  sounds  of 
music  and  dancing  were  going  on,  just  as  when 
we  left  it.  How  little  the  jovial  throng  dreamt 
of  the  tragedy  that  had  just  been  enacted  within 


52  HOBART  PASHA 

a  few  yards  of  them;  of  the  young  life  cut  down 
on  its  threshold! 

We  got  on  board  all  right,  but  such  a  terrible 
row  was  made  about  the  affair  that  the  ship  to 
which  A.  belonged  had  to  go  to  sea  the  next  day, 
and  did  not  appear  again  at  Rio  de  Janeiro. 

I,  though  not  belonging  to  that  vessel,  was  not 
allowed  to  land  for  many  months. 


CHAPTER  IV 

RIO    DE    JANEIRO 

ONE  word  about  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Rio,  as 
it  is  generally  called,  is  perhaps  one  of  the 
most  lovely  spots  in  the  world.  The 
beautiful  natural  bay  and  harbor  are  unequalled 
throughout  the  whole  universe.  Still,  like  the 
Bosphorus,  the  finest  effect  is  made  by  Rio  de 
Janeiro  when  looked  at  from  the  water.  In  the 
days  of  which  I  write  yellow  fever  was  unknown; 
now  that  fearful  disease  kills  its  thousands,  aye, 
tens  of  thousands,  yearly.  The  climate,  though 
hot  at  times,  is  very  good ;  in  the  summer  the  morn- 
ings are  hot  to  a  frying  heat,  but  the  sea  breeze 
comes  in  regularly  as  clockwork,  and  when  it  blows 
everything  is  cool  and  nice.  Life  is  indeed  a  lazy 
existence ;  there  is  no  outdoor  amusement  of  any 
kind  to  be  had  in  the  neighborhood.  As  to  shoot- 
ing, there  are  only  a  few  snipe  to  be  found  here 
and  there,  and  while  looking  for  these  you  must 
beware  of  snakes  and  other  venomous  reptiles, 
which  abound  both  in  the  country  and  in  town. 
I  remember  a  terrible  fright  a  large  picnic  party, 
53 


54-  HOBART  PASHA 

at  which  I  assisted,  was  thrown  into  while  lunch- 
ing in  the  garden  of  a  villa,  almost  in  the  town 
of  Rio,  by  a  lady  jumping  up  from  her  seat  with 
a  deadly  whip-snake  hanging  on  her  dress.  I 
once  myself  sat  on  an  adder  who  put  his  fangs 
through  the  woollen  stuff  of  my  inexpressibles  and 
could  not  escape.  The  same  thing  happened  with 
the  lady's  dress;  in  that  case  also  we  caught  the 
snake,  as  it  could  not  disentangle  its  fangs. 

In  the  country  near  Rio  there  are  great  snakes 
called  the  anaconda,  a  sort  of  boa-constrictor  on 
a  large  scale.  Once,  while  walking  in  the  woods 
with  some  friends,  we  found  a  little  Indian  boy 
dead  on  the  ground,  one  of  these  big  snakes  lying 
within  a  foot  or  so  of  him,  also  dead;  the  snake 
had  a  poisoned  arrow  in  its  brain,  which  evidently 
had  been  shot  at  him  by  the  poor  little  boy,  whose 
blow-pipe  was  lying  by  his  side.  The  snake  must 
have  struck  the  boy  before  it  died,  as  we  found  a 
wound  on  the  boy's  neck.  This  reptile  measured 
twenty-two  feet  in  length.* 

By  the  way,  a  well-known  author,  Mrs.  B , 

tells  a  marvellous  story  about  these  snakes.  She 
says  that  they  always  go  in  pairs,  have  great 
affection  for  each  other,  and  are  prepared  on  all 
occasions  to  resent  affronts  offered  to  either  of 

*  The  anaconda  sometimes  attains  a  length  of  thirty  feet. 
(Ed.) 


RIO  DE  JANEIRO  55 

them.  She  narrates  that  a  peasant  once  killed  a 
big  anaconda,  and  that  the  other,  or  chum  snake, 
followed  the  man  several  miles  to  the  house  where 
he  had  taken  the  dead  one,  got  in  by  the  window, 
and  crushed  the  destroyer  of  his  friend  to  death. 
I  expect  that  some  salt  is  necessary  to  swallow 

this  tale,  but  such  is  the  statement  Mrs.  B 

makes. 

The  most  lovely  birds  and  butterflies  are  found 
near  Rio,  and  the  finest  collections  in  the  world 
are  made  there.  The  white  people  are  Portuguese 
by  origin  —  not  a  nice  lot  to  my  fancy,  though 
the  ladies  are  as  usual  always  nice,  especially  when 
young;  they  get  old  very  soon  through  eating 
sweets  and  not  taking  exercise.  There  is  very 
little  poverty  except  among  the  free  blacks,  who  are 
lazy  and  idle  and  somewhat  vicious.  I  always 
have  believed  that  the  black  man  is  an  inferior 
animal  —  in  fact,  that  the  dark  races  are  meant  to 
be  drawers  of  water  and  hewers  of  wood.  I  do 
not  deny  that  they  have  souls  to  be  saved,  but  I 
believe  that  their  role  in  this  world  is  to  attend 
on  the  white  man.  The  black  is,  and  for  years 
has  been,  educated  on  perfect  equality  with  the 
white  man,  and  has  every  chance  of  improving 
himself  —  with  what  result?  You  could  almost 
count  on  your  fingers  the  names  of  those  who  have 
distinguished  themselves  in  the  battle  of  life. 


56  HOBART  PASHA 

Sometimes,  while  cruising  off  the  coast  of  Rio 
de  Janeiro  looking  out  for  slave  vessels,  we  passed 
a  very  monotonous  life.  The  long  and  fearfully 
hot  mornings  before  the  sea  breeze  sets  in,  the 
still  longer  and  choking  nights  with  the  thermom- 
eter at  108°,  were  trying  in  the  extreme  to  those 
accustomed  to  the  fresh  air  of  northern  climates; 
but  sailors  have  always  something  of  the  Mark 
Tapley  about  them  and  are  generally  jolly  under 
all  circumstances,  and  so  it  was  with  me.  One 
day,  while  longing  for  something  to  do,  I  dis- 
covered that  the  crew  had  been  ordered  to  paint 
the  ship  outside ;  as  a  pastime  I  put  on  old  clothes 
and  joined  the  painting  party.  Planks  were  hung 
round  the  ship  by  ropes  being  tied  to  each  end  of 
the  plank ;  on  these  the  men  stood  to  do  their 
work.  We  had  not  been  employed  there  very  long 
when  there  was  a  cry  from  the  deck  that  the  ship 
was  surrounded  by  sharks.  It  seems  that  the 
butcher  had  killed  a  sheep,  whose  entrails,  having 
been  thrown  overboard,  attracted  these  fearful 
brutes  round  the  ship  in  great  numbers.  As  may 
be  imagined,  this  report  created  a  real  panic 
among  the  painters,  for  I  believe  we  all  feared  a 
shark  more  than  an  enemy  armed  to  the  teeth.  I 
at  once  made  a  hurried  movement  to  get  off  my 
plank.  As  I  did  so  the  rope  at  one  end  slipped 
off,  and  so  threw  the  piece  of  wood,  to  which  I 


RIO  DE  JANEIRO  57 

had  to  hang  as  on  a  rope,  up  and  down  the  vessel's 
side,  bringing  my  feet  to  within  a  very  few  inches 
of  the  water.  On  looking  downwards  I  saw  a 
great  shark  in  the  water,  almost  within  snapping 
distance  of  my  legs.  I  can  swear  that  my  hair 
stood  on  end  with  fear ;  though  I  held  on  like  grim 
death,  I  felt  myself  going,  yes,  going,  little  by 
little  right  into  the  beast's  jaws.  At  that  mo- 
ment, only  just  in  time,  a  rope  was  thrown  over 
my  head  from  the  deck  above  me,  and  I  was  pulled 
from  my  fearfully  perilous  position,  more  dead 
than  alive.  Now  for  revenge  on  the  brutes  who 
would  have  eaten  me  if  they  could !  It  was  a  dead 
calm,  the  sharks  were  still  swimming  round  the 
ship  waiting  for  their  prey.  We  got  a  lot  of 
hooks  with  chains  attached  to  them,  on  which  we 
put  baits  of  raw  meat.  I  may  as  well  mention 
a  fact  not  generally  known,  viz.,  that  a  shark  must 
turn  on  his  back  before  opening  his  capacious 
mouth  sufficiently  to  feed  himself;  when  he  turns 
he  means  business,  and  woe  to  him  who  is  within 
reach  of  the  man-eater's  jaws.  On  this  occasion 
what  we  offered  them  was  merely  a  piece  of  meat, 
and  most  ravenously  did  they  rush,  turn  on  their 
backs,  and  swallow  it,  only  to  find  that  they  were 
securely  hooked,  and  could  not  bite  through  the 
chains  that  were  fast  to  the  hooks  —  in  fact,  that 
it  was  all  up  with  them.  Orders  had  been  given 


58  HOBART  PASHA 

by  the  commanding  officer  that  the  sharks  were 
not  to  be  pulled  on  board,  partly  from  the  danger- 
ous action  of  their  tails  and  jaws  even  when  half 
dead,  partly  on  account  of  the  confusion  they 
make  while  floundering  about  the  decks ;  so  we 
hauled  them  close  to  the  top  of  the  water,  fired 
a  bullet  into  their  brains  and  cut  them  loose.  We 
killed  thirty  that  morning  in  this  way,  some  of 
them  eight  to  ten  feet  long. 

The  most  horrid  thing  I  know  is  to  see,  as  I 
have  done  on  more  than  one  occasion,*  a  man 
taken  by  a  shark.  You  hear  a  fearful  scream  as 
the  poor  wretch  is  dragged  down,  and  nothing 
remains  to  tell  the  dreadful  tale  excepting  that  the 
water  is  deeply  tinged  with  blood  on  the  spot  where 
the  unfortunate  man  disappeared.  These  raven- 
ous man-eaters  scent  blood  from  an  enormous  dis- 
tance, and  their  prominent  upper  fin,  which  is  gen- 
erally out  of  the  water  as  they  go  along  at  a 
tremendous  pace,  may  be  seen  at  a  great  distance, 
and  they  can  swim  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  a  minute. 
A  shark  somewhat  reminds  me  of  the  torpedo  of 
the  present  day,  and  in  my  humble  opinion  is  much 
more  dangerous. 

Once  we  caught   a  large  shark.     On   opening 

*  The  reader  may  be  pardoned  for  accepting  this  state- 
ment in  the  same  way  that  Hobart  took  "Mrs.  B *s" 

snake  story  —  cum  grano  salts.     (Ed.) 


RIO  DE  JANEIRO  59 

him  we  found  in  his  inside  a  watch  and  chain  quite 
perfect.  Could  it  have  been  that  some  poor  wretch 
had  been  swallowed  and  digested,  and  the  watch 
only  remained  as  being  indigestible? 

It  is  strange  to  see  the  contempt  with  which  the 
black  man  treats  a  shark,  the  more  especially  when 
he  has  to  do  with  him  in  shallow  water.  A  negro 
takes  a  large  knife  and  diving  under  the  shark 
cuts  its  bowels  open.  If  the  water  is  deep  the  shark 
can  go  lower  down  than  the  man  and  so  save  him- 
self, and  if  the  nigger  don't  take  care  it  will  eat 
him;  thus  the  black  man  never  goes  into  deep 
water  if  he  can  help  it,  for  he  is  always  expecting 
a  shark. 


CHAPTER  V 

SLAVER  HUNTING 

SHORTLY  after  the  duel  at  Rio  I  went  to 
England,  but  to  be  again  immediately  ap- 
pointed to   a  vessel   on  the   Brazilian   sta- 
tion.* 

It  was  at  the  time  when  philanthropists  of 
Europe  were  crying  aloud  for  the  abolition  of 
the  African  slave  trade,  never  taking  for  a  mo- 
ment into  consideration  the  fact  that  the  state  of 
the  savage  African  black  population  was  infinitely 
bettered  by  their  being  conveyed  out  of  the  misery 
and  barbarism  of  their  own  country,  introduced 
to  civilization,  given  opportunities  of  embracing 
religion,  and  taught  that  to  kill  and  eat  each  other 
was  not  to  be  considered  as  the  principal  pastime 
among  human  beings. 

At  the  period  I  allude  to  (from  1841  to  1845) 
the  slave  trade  was  carried  out  on  a  large  scale 
between  the  coast  of  Africa  and  South  America; 
and  a  most  lucrative  trade  it  was,  if  the  poor  devils 
of  negroes  could  be  safely  conveyed  alive  from  one 
coast  to  the  other.     I  say  if,  because  the  risk  of 
*The  Dolphin.     (Ed.) 
60 


SLAVER  HUNTING  61 

capture  was  so  great  that  the  poor  wretches,  men, 
women,  and  children,  were  packed  like  herrings 
in  the  holds  of  the  fast  little  sailing  vessels  em- 
ployed, and  to  such  a  fearful  extent  was  this  pack- 
ing carried  on  that,  even  if  the  vessels  were  not 
captured,  more  than  half  the  number  of  blacks 
embarked  died  from  suffocation  or  disease  before 
arriving  at  their  destination,  yet  that  half  was 
sufficient  to  pay  handsomely  those  engaged  in 
trade. 

On  this  point  I  propose  giving  examples  and 
proofs  hereafter,  merely  remarking,  en  passant, 
that  had  the  negroes  been  brought  over  in  vessels 
that  were  not  liable  to  be  chased  and  captured, 
the  owners  of  such  vessels  would  naturally,  con- 
sidering the  great  value  of  their  cargo,  have  taken 
precautions  against  overcrowding  and  disease. 

Now,  let  us  inquire  as  to  the  origin  of  these  poor 
wretched  Africans  becoming  slaves,  and  of  their 
being  sold  to  the  white  man.  It  was,  briefly  speak- 
ing, in  this  wise.  On  a  war  taking  place  between^ 
two  tribes  in  Africa,  a  thing  of  daily  occurrence, 
naturally  many  prisoners  were  made  on  both  sides. 
Of  these  prisoners  those  who  were  not  tender 
enough  to  be  made  into  ragout  were  taken  down 
to  the  sea-coast  and  sold  to  the  slave-dealers,  who 
had  wooden  barracks  established  ready  for  their 
reception. 


62  HOBART  PASHA 

Into  these  barracks,  men,  women,  and  children, 
most  of  whom  were  kept  in  irons  to  prevent  escape, 
were  bundled  like  cattle,  there  to  await  embarka- 
tion on  board  the  vessels  that  would  convey  them 
across  the  sea. 

Now,  as  the  coast  was  closely  watched  on  the 
African  side,  to  prevent  the  embarkation  of  slaves, 
as  it  was  on  the  Brazilian  side,  to  prevent  their 
being  landed,  the  poor  wretches  were  frequently 
waiting  for  weeks  on  the  seashore  undergoing  every 
species  of  torment. 

At  last  the  vessel  to  carry  off  a  portion  of  them 
arrived,  when  they  were  rushed  on  board  and 
thrown  into  the  hold  regardless  of  sex,  like  bags 
of  sand,  and  the  slaver  started  on  her  voyage  for 
the  Brazils.  Perhaps  while  on  her  way  she  was 
chased  by  an  English  cruiser,  in  which  case,  so  it 
has  often  been  known  to  happen,  a  part  of  the 
living  cargo  would  be  thrown  overboard,  trusting 
that  the  horror  of  leaving  human  beings  to  be 
drowned  would  compel  the  officers  of  the  English 
cruiser  to  slacken  their  speed  while  picking  the 
poor  wretches  up,  and  thus  give  the  slaver  a  better 
chance  of  escape.  (This  I  have  seen  done  myself, 
fortunately  unavailingly. ) 

I  will  now  ask  the  reader  to  bring  his  thoughts 
back  to  the  coast  of  Brazil,  where  a  good  look-out 
was  being  kept  for  such  vessels  as  I  have  men- 


SLAVER  HUNTING  63 

tioned  as  leaving  the  African  coast  with  live  cargo 
on  board  bound  for  the  Brazilian  waters.  Rio 
de  Janeiro,  the  capital  of  Brazil,  was  the  head- 
quarters of  the  principal  slave-owners.  It  was 
there  that  all  arrangements  were  made  regarding 
the  traffic  in  slaves,  the  despatch  of  the  vessels 
in  which  they  were  to  be  conveyed,  the  points  on 
which  they  were  to  land,  &c.,  and  it  was  at  Rio 
that  the  slave  vessels  made  their  rendezvous  before 
and  after  their  voyages.  It  was  there  also  that 
the  spies  on  whose  information  we  acted  were  to 
be  found,  and  double-faced  scoundrels  they  were, 
often  giving  information  which  caused  the  cap- 
ture of  a  small  vessel  with  few  slaves  on  board, 
while  the  larger  vessel,  with  twice  the  number,  was 
landing  her  cargo  unmolested. 

As  for  myself,  I  was  at  the  time  of  life  when 
enterprise  was  necessary  for  my  existence,  and  so 
keenly  did  I  join  in  the  slave-hunting  mania  that 
I  found  it  dangerous  to  land  in  the  town  of  Rio 
for  fear  of  assassination. 

My  captain,  seeing  how  enthusiastic  I  was  in 
the  cause,  which  promised  prize-money  if  not  re- 
nown, encouraged  me  by  placing  me  in  a  position 
that,  as  a  humble  midshipman,  I  was  scarcely  en- 
titled to,  gave  me  his  confidence,  and  thus  made 
me  still  more  zealous  to  do  something,  if  only  to 
show  my  gratitude. 


64  HOBART  PASHA 

Having  picked  up  all  the  information  possible 
as  regarded  the  movements  of  the  slave  vessels, 
we  started  on  a  cruise,  our  minds  set  particularly 
on  the  capture  of  a  celebrated  craft  called  the 
Lightning,  a  vessel  renowned  for  her  great  success 
as  a  slave  ship,  whose  captain  declared  (this  made 
our  mission  still  more  exciting)  that  he  would 
show  fight,  especially  if  attacked  by  English  men- 
of-war  boats  when  away  from  the  protection  of 
their  ships. 

I  must  mention  that  it  was  the  custom  of  the 
cruisers  on  the  coast  of  Brazil  to  send  their  boats 
on  detached  service,  they  (the  boats)  going  in  one 
direction  while  the  vessels  they  belonged  to  went 
in  another,  only  communicating  every  two  or  three 
days.  Proud  indeed  for  me  was  the  moment  when, 
arriving  near  to  the  spot  on  the  coast  where  the 
Lightning  was  daily  expected  with  her  live  cargo, 
I  left  my  ship  in  command  of  three  boats,  viz.,  a 
ten-oared  cutter  and  two  four-oared  whale  boats. 
I  had  with  me  in  all  nineteen  men,  well  armed  and 
prepared,  as  I  imagined,  for  every  emergency. 
The  night  we  left  our  ship  we  anchored  late  under 
the  shelter  of  a  small  island,  and  all  hands  being 
tired  from  a  long  row  in  a  hot  sun,  I  let  my  men 
go  to  sleep  during  the  short  tropical  darkness. 
As  soon  as  the  day  was  breaking  all  hands  were 
alert,  and  we  saw  with  delight  a  beautiful  rakish- 


SLAVER  HUNTING  65 

looking  brig,  crammed  with  slaves,  close  to  the 
island  behind  which  we  had  taken  shelter,  steering 
for  a  creek  on  the  mainland  a  short  distance  from 
us.  I  ought  to  mention  that  the  island  in  ques- 
tion was  within  four  miles  of  this  creek.  We  im- 
mediately prepared  for  action,  and  while  serving 
out  to  each  man  his  store  of  cartridges,  I  found 
to  my  horror  that  the  percussion  tubes  and  caps 
for  the  boat's  gun,  the  muskets  and  pistols,  had 
been  left  on  board  the  ship.  What  was  to  be 
done?  no  use  swearing  at  anybody.  However, 
we  pulled  boldly  out  from  under  the  shelter  of  the 
island,  thinking  to  intimidate  the  slaver  into  heav- 
ing to.  In  this  we  were  grievously  mistaken. 

The  vessel  with  her  men  standing  ready  at  their 
guns  seemed  to  put  on  a  defiant  air  as  she  sailed 
majestically  past  us,  and  although  we  managed 
with  lucifer  matches  to  fire  the  boat's  gun  once  or 
twice,  she  treated  us  with  sublime  contempt  and 
went  on  her  way  into  the  creek,  at  the  rate  of  six 
or  seven  miles  an  hour.  Though  difficult  to  attack 
the  vessel  in  the  day  time  without  firearms,  I  de- 
termined if  possible  not  to  lose  altogether  this 
splendid  brig.  I  waited  therefore  till  after  sun- 
set, and  then  pulled  silently  into  the  creek  with 
muffled  oars.  There  was  our  friend  securely 
lashed  to  the  rocks.  We  dashed  on  board  with 
drawn  cutlasses,  anticipating  an  obstinate  resist- 


66  HOBART  PASHA 

ance.  We  got  possession  of  the  deck  in  no  time, 
but  on  looking  round  for  some  one  to  fight  with, 
saw  nothing  but  a  small  black  boy  who,  having 
been  roused  up  from  a  sort  of  dog-kennel  in  which 
he  had  been  sleeping,  first  looked  astonished  and 
then  burst  out  laughing,  pointing  as  he  did  so  to 
the  shore.  Yes,  the  shore  to  which  the  slaver 
brig  was  lashed  was  the  spot  where  seven  hundred 
slaves  (or  nearly  that  number,  for  we  found  three 
or  four  half-dea4  negroes  in  the  hold)  and  the 
crew  had  all  gone,  and  left  us  lamenting  our  bad 
luck.  However,  I  took  possession  of  the  vessel 
as  she  lay,  and  though  threatened  day  and  night 
by  the  natives,  who  kept  up  a  constant  fire  from 
the  neighboring  heights  and  seemed  preparing  to 
board  us,  maintained  our  hold  upon  the  craft  until 
the  happy  arrival  of  my  ship,  which,  with  a  few 
rounds  of  grape,  soon  cleared  the  neighborhood  of 
our  assailants.  I  may  mention  that,  in  the  event 
of  our  having  been  boarded,  we  had  prepared  a 
warm  reception  for  our  enemies  in  the  shape  of 
buckets  of  boiling  oil  mixed  with  lime,  which  would 
have  been  poured  on  their  devoted  heads  while  in 
the  act  of  climbing  up  the  side.  As  they  kept, 
however,  at  a  respectful  distance,  our  remedy  was 
not  tried.  The  vessel,  a  splendid  brig  of  400  tons, 
was  then  pulled  off  her  rocky  bed,  and  I  was  sent 
in  charge  of  her  to  Rio  de  Janeiro.  And  now 


SLAVER  HUNTING  67 

comes  the  strangest  part  of  my  adventures  on  this 
occasion. 

On  the  early  morning  after  I  had  parted  com- 
pany with  my  commanding  officer,  before  the 
dawn,  I  ran  accidentally  right  into  a  schooner 
loaded  with  slaves,  also  coming  from  Africa, 
bound  to  the  same  place  as  had  been  the  brig,  my 
prize. 

Without  the  slightest  hesitation,  before  the 
shock  and  surprise  caused  by  the  collision  had 
given  time  for  reflection  or  resistance,  I  took  pos- 
session of  this  vessel,  put  the  crew  in  irons,  and 
hoisted  English  colors.  There  were  460  Africans 
on  board,  and  what  a  sight  it  was! 

The  schooner  had  been  eighty-five  days  at  sea. 
They  were  short  of  water  and  provisions ;  three 
distinct  diseases  —  namely,  small-pox,  ophthalmia, 
and  diarrhosa  in  its  worst  form  —  had  broken  out, 
while  coming  across,  among  the  poor  doomed 
wretches. 

On  opening  the  hold  we  saw  a  mass  of  arms, 
legs,  and  bodies  all  crushed  together.  Many  of 
the  bodies  to  whom  these  limbs  belonged  were  dead 
or  dying.  In  fact,  when  we  had  made  some  sort 
of  clearance  among  them  we  found  in  that  fearful 
hold  eleven  dead  bodies  lying  among  the  living 
freight.  "  Water !  water !  "  was  the  cry.  Many 
of  them  as  soon  as  free  jumped  into  the  sea,  partly 


68  HOBART  PASHA 

from  the  delirious  state  they  were  in,  partly  be- 
cause they  had  been  told  that,  if  taken  by  the 
English,  they  would  be  tortured  and  eaten.  The 
latter  practice  I  fancy  they  were  accustomed  to 
seeing,  but  the  former  they  had  a  wholesome  dread 
of. 

Can  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe  beat  this?  It  is,  I 
can  assure  my  readers,  a  very  mild  description 
of  what  I  saw  on  board  the  first  cargo  of  slaves 
I  made  the  acquaintance  of,  and  by  which  I  was 
so  deeply  impressed,  that  I  have  ever  since  been 
sceptical  of  the  benefits  conferred  upon  the  African 
race  by  our  blockade  —  at  all  events,  of  the  means 
employed  to  abolish  slavery. 

The  strangest  thing  amid  this  confusion  of 
horrors  was  that  children  were  constantly  being 
born.  In  fact,  just  after  I  got  on  board,  an  un- 
fortunate creature  was  delivered  of  a  child  close 
to  where  I  was  standing,  and  jumped  into  the  sea, 
baby  and  all,  immediately  afterwards.  She  was 
saved  with  much  difficulty ;  the  more  so,  as  she 
seemed  to  particularly  object  to  being  rescued 
from  what  nearly  proved  a  watery  grave. 

After  this  unusual  stroke  of  good  luck,  sending 
a  prize  crew  on  board  my  new  capture,  and  allow- 
ing the  slaver's  crew  to  escape  in  the  schooner's 
boat,  as  I  considered  these  lawless  ruffians  an  im- 
pediment to  my  movements,  I  proceeded  on  my 


SLAVER  HUNTING  69 

voyage,  and  arrived  safely  in  Rio  harbor  with  my 
two  prizes. 

There  I  handed  my  live  cargo  over  to  the  Eng- 
lish authorities,  who  had  a  special  large  and  roomy 
vessel  lying  in  the  harbor  for  the  reception  of  the 
now  free  niggers. 

It  would  be  as  well  perhaps  to  state  what  be- 
came of  the  freed  blacks.  First  of  all  they  were 
cleaned,  clothed  (after  a  fashion),  and  fed;  then 
they  were  sent  to  an  English  colony,  such  for  ex- 
ample as  Demerara,  where  they  had  to  serve  seven 
years  as  apprentices  (something,  I  must  admit, 
very  like  slavery),  after  which  they  were  free  for 
ever  and  all.  I  fear  they  generally  used  their 
freedom  in  a  way  that  made  them  a  public  nuisance 
wherever  they  were.  However,  they  were  free,  and 
that  satisfied  the  philanthropists. 


CHAPTER  VI 


SLAVER    HUNTING 

NOW  to  return  to  my  "  experiences."  As 
proud  as  the  young  sportsman  when  he  has 
killed  his  first  stag,  I  returned,  keen  as 
mustard,  to  my  ship,  which  I  found  still  cruising 
near  to  where  I  had  left  her.  Some  secret  in- 
formation that  I  had  received  while  at  Rio  led  me 
to  ask  my  captain  to  again  send  me  away  with  a 
force  similar  to  that  which  I  had  under  me  be- 
fore (with  percussion  caps  this  time),  and  allow 
me  to  station  myself  some  fifty  miles  further  down 
the  coast.  My  request  was  granted,  and  away 
I  went.  This  time,  instead  of  taking  shelter  under 
an  island,  I  ensconced  my  little  force  behind  a 
point  of  land  which  enabled  me  by  mounting  on 
the  rocks  to  sweep  the  horizon  with  a  spy-glass, 
so  that  I  could  discover  any  vessel  approaching 
the  land  while  she  was  yet  at  a  considerable  dis- 
tance. 

There  happened  to  be  a  large  coffee  plantation 
in  my   immediate  neighborhood,   and  I  remarked 
that  the  inhabitants  favored  us  with  the  darkest 
70 


SLAVER  HUNTING  71 

of  scowls  whenever  we  met  them.  This  made  me 
believe  (and  I  wasn't  far  out)  that  the  slave  vessel 
I  was  looking  out  for  was  bringing  recruits  to 
the  already  numerous  slaves  employed  on  the  said 
plantation.  Two  or  three  mornings  after  my 
arrival,  I  discovered  a  sail  on  the  very  far  horizon ; 
a  vessel  evidently  bound  to  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood I  had  chosen  as  my  look-out  place.  The 
winds  were  baffling  and  light,  as  usual  in  the  morn- 
ing in  these  latitudes,  where,  however,  there  is 
always  a  sea  breeze  in  the  afternoon.  So,  being 
in  no  hurry,  I  sauntered  about  the  shore  with  my 
double-barrelled  gun  in  my  hand,  occasionally 
taking  a  look  seaward.  Suddenly  I  saw  within 
a  hundred  yards  of  me  a  man  leading  two  enormous 
dogs  in  a  leash.  The  dogs  were  of  a  breed  well 
known  among  slave-owners,  as  they  were  trained 
to  run  down  runaway  slaves.  I  believe  the  land 
of  their  origin  is  Cuba,  as  they  are  called  Cuban 
bloodhounds. 

Suspecting  nothing  I  continued  my  lounge, 
turning  my  back  on  the  man  and  his  dogs.  A 
few  minutes  afterwards  I  was  startled  by  a  rush- 
ing sound  behind  me.  On  turning  quickly  round 
I  saw  to  my  horror  two  huge  dogs  galloping 
straight  at  me.  Quick  as  lightning  I  stood  on 
the  defensive,  and  when  they  with  open  mouths 
and  bloodshot  eyes  were  within  five  yards,  I  pulled 


72  HOBART  PASHA 

the  trigger.  The  gun  missed  fire  with  the  first 
barrel.  The  second  barrel  luckily  went  off,  scat- 
tering the  brains  of  the  nearest  dog,  the  whole 
charge  having  entered  his  mouth,  and  gone  through 
the  palate  into  his  brain.  This  occurrence  seemed 
to  check  the  advance  of  the  second  brute,  who, 
while  hesitating  for  a  moment  before  coming  at 
me,  received  a  ball  in  his  side  from  one  of  my 
sailors,  who  fortunately  had  observed  what  was 
going  on  and  had  come  to  my  rescue.  Without 
waiting  an  instant  to  see  what  had  become  of  the 
man  who  had  played  me  this  murderous  trick,  I 
called  my  men  together,  launched  the  boats,  and 
put  out  to  sea. 

By  this  time  the  sea-breeze  had  set  in,  and  I 
could  see  the  vessel  I  had  been  watching,  though 
still  a  considerable  distance  from  the  shore,  was 
trimming  her  sails  to  the  sea-breeze,  and  steering 
straight  in  for  the  very  spot  where  I  had  been 
concealed.  Signal  after  signal  was  made  to  her 
by  her  friends  on  the  shore,  in  the  shape  of  lighted 
fires  (not  much  avail  in  the  daytime)  and  the 
hoisting  of  flags,  &c.,  but  she  seemed  utterly  to 
disregard  the  action  of  her  friends.  Satisfied,  I 
imagine,  that  she  had  all  but  finished  her  voyage, 
seeing  no  cruiser  and  unsuspicious  of  boats,  on  she 
came.* 

*  It  must  be  understood  that  both  men  and  boats  were 


SLAVER  HUN7TING  73 

We  got  almost  alongside  of  her  before  the  people 
on  board  seemed  to  see  us.  When  she  did,  evi- 
dently taken  by  surprise,  she  put  her  helm  down, 
and  throwing  all  her  sails  aback,  snapped  some  of 
her  lighter  spars,  thus  throwing  everything  into 
confusion  —  confusion  made  worse  by  the  fact 
that,  with  the  view  of  immediate  landing,  two  hun- 
dred or  three  hundred  of  the  niggers  had  been 
freed  from  their  confinement  and  were  crowded  on 
the  deck.  Taking  advantage  of  this  state  of 
things  we  made  our  capture  without  a  shot  being 
fired. 

In  fact  everything  was  done,  as  sailors  say, 
"  before  you  could  look  round  you,"  the  man  at 
the  helm  replaced  by  one  of  my  men,  the  crew 
bundled  down  into  the  slave-hold  to  give  them  a 
taste  of  its  horrors,  and  the  sails  trimmed  for  sea- 
ward instead  of  towards  the  land.  The  captain, 
who  seemed  a  decent  fellow,  cried  like  a  child.  He 
said :  "  If  I  had  seen  you  five  minutes  before  you 
would  never  have  taken  me.  Now  I  am  ruined." 
I  consoled  him  as  well  as  I  could  and  treated  him 
well,  as  he  really  seemed  half  a  gentleman,  if  not 
entirely  one.  I  found  about  six  hundred  slaves, 
men  and  women  and  children,  on  board  this  vessel, 
who  as  they  had  made  a  very  rapid  and  prosperous 

disguised  so  as  to  resembk  tLe  ordinary  fishing  coasters 
about  those  parts. 


74  HOBART  PASHA 

voyage,  were  in  a  somewhat  better  state  than  those 
on  board  the  last  capture.  Still  goodness  knows 
their  state  was  disgusting  enough.  Ophthalmia 
had  got  a  terrible  hold  of  the  poor  wretches.  In 
many  of  the  cases  the  patient  was  stone  blind.  I 
caught  this  painful  disease  myself,  and  for  several 
days  couldn't  see  a  yard. 

Shortly  after,  having  despatched  our  prize  into 
Rio  in  charge  of  a  brother  midshipman,  we  were 
joined  by  another  man-of-war  cruiser,  which  had 
been  sent  to  assist  us  in  our  work.  As  the  officer 
in  command  of  this  vessel  *  was  of  senior  rank  to 
my  commander,  he  naturally  took  upon  himself  to 
organise  another  boat  expedition,  placing  one  of 
his  own  officers  in  command.  With  this  expedi- 
tion I  was  allowed  to  go,  taking  with  me  my  old 
boats  and  their  crews,  with  orders  to  place  myself 
under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  A.  C.,**  the 
officer  chosen  by  the  senior  in  command. 

So  we  started  with  five  boats  provisioned  and 
otherwise  prepared  for  a  cruise  of  twenty  days. 
The  lieutenant  in  charge  did  not  think  it  wise  to 
land,  as  a  bad  feeling  towards  us  was  known  to 
exist  among  the  inhabitants,  who  were  all  more  or 
less  slave-dealers,  or  interested  in  the  success  of 
the  slave-vessels,  so  we  had  to  live  in  our  boats. 

*  The  Frolic.     (Ed.) 
**  Arthur  Gumming.     (Ed.) 


SLAVER  HUNTING  75 

Rather  hard  lines,  sleeping  on  the  boat's  thwarts, 
&c.  Still  we  had  that  balm  of  Gilead,  hope,  to 
keep  us  alive,  and  our  good  spirits.  Many  a  long- 
ing eye  did  I  cast  to  the  shore,  where,  in  spite  of 
the  bloodhounds,  I  should  like  to  have  stretched 
my  cramped  limbs.  Ten  or  twelve  days  passed  in 
dodging  about,  doing  nothing  but  keeping  a  good 
look-out,  and  we  almost  began  to  despair,  when 
one  fine  morning  we  saw  a  large  brig,  evidently  a 
slaver,  running  in  towards  the  shore  with  a  fresh 
breeze.  Our  boats  were  painted  like  fishing  boats, 
and  our  men  disguised  as  fishermen,  as  usual;  so, 
apparently  occupied  with  our  pretended  business, 
we  gradually  approached  the  slave  vessel.  My 
orders  were  strictly  to  follow  the  movements  or 
action  of  my  superior.  Then  I  witnessed  a  gallant 
act,  such  as  I  have  not  seen  surpassed  during  forty 
years  of  active  service  that  I  have  gone  through 
since  that  time.  Lieutenant  A.  C.,  who  was  in 
the  leading  boat,  a  large  twelve-oared  cutter, 
edged  pretty  near  to  the  advancing  vessel,  and 
when  quite  close  under  her  bows  one  man  seemed 
to  me  to  spring  like  a  chamois  on  board.  I  saw 
the  boat  from  which  the  man  jumped  make  an  in- 
effectual attempt  to  get  alongside  the  vessel,  that 
was  going  at  the  rate  of  six  miles  an  hour,  and 
then  drop  astern.  I  heard  a  pistol  shot,  and  sud- 
denly the  vessel  was  thrown  up  in  the  wind  with 


76  HOBART  PASHA 

all  her  sails  aback,  thus  entirely  stopping  her  way 
(sailors  will  understand  this).  Not  knowing  pre- 
cisely what  had  happened,  we  pulled  like  maniacs 
alongside  of  the  slaver.  To  do  this  was,  now 
that  the  vessel's  way  was  stopped,  comparatively 
easy.  We  dashed  on  board,  and  after  a  slight 
resistance  on  the  part  of  the  slaver's  crew,  in  which 
two  or  three  more  men,  myself  among  the  number, 
were  wounded,  we  took  possession  of  the  brig. 
There  we  found  our  lieutenant  standing  calmly  at 
the  helm,  which  was  a  long  wooden  tiller.  He  it 
was  who  had  jumped  on  board  alone,  shot  the  man 
at  the  helm,  put  the  said  helm  down  with  his  leg, 
while  in  his  hand  he  held  his  other  pistol,  with 
which  he  threatened  to  shoot  any  one  who  dared 
to  touch  him. 

I  fancy  that  his  cool  pluck  had  caused  a  panic 
among  the  undisciplined  crew,  a  panic  that  our 
rapid  approach  tended  much  to  increase.  What 
astonished  me  was  that  nobody  on  board  thought 
of  shooting  him  before  he  got  to  the  helm,  in  which 
case  we  never  could  have  got  on  board  the  vessel, 
considering  the  speed  she  was  going  through  the 
water.  What  he  did  was  a  glorious  piece  of  pluck, 
that  in  these  days  would  have  been  rewarded  with 
the  Victoria  Cross  as  the  least  recompense  they 
could  have  given  to  so  gallant  an  officer.  Poor 
fellow  all  the  reward  he  got,  beyond  the  intense 


SLAVER  HUNTING  77 

admiration  of  those  who  saw  him,  was  a  bad  attack 
of  small-pox  from  the  diseased  animals  (there  is 
no  other  name  for  negroes  in  the  state  they  were 
in)  on  board  the  slave  vessel,  which  somewhat  in- 
jured the  face  of  one  of  the  handsomest  men  I  ever 
saw.  He  is  now  an  admiral,  has  done  many  gal- 
gant  acts  since  then,  but  none  could  beat  what  he 
did  on  that  memorable  morning. 

I  have  said  that  I  was  among  those  who  were 
wounded  on  this  occasion.  What  my  friend  A.  C. 
did  so  far  outshone  anything  that  I  had  accom- 
plished, that  it  is  hardly  worth  while  speaking  of 
my  share  in  the  fray.  However,  as  I  am  writing 
sketches  from  my  life,  I  will  not  omit  to  describe 
the  way  in  which  I  was  wounded.  We  were,  as  I 
have  said,  making  a  rush  to  assist  our  gallant 
leader,  who  was  alone  on  board  the  slaver.  The 
reader  will  have  seen  that  our  business  was  board- 
ing and  fighting  our  enemy  hand  to  hand.  As  I 
was  making  a  jump  on  board  I  saw  the  white  of 
the  eye  of  a  great  black  man  turned  on  me;  he 
brandished  a  huge  axe,  which  I  had  a  sort  of  pre- 
sentiment was  intended  for  me.  I  sprang  as  it 
were  straight  at  my  destiny,  for  as  I  grasped  the 
gunnel  down  came  the  axe,  and  I  received  the  full 
edge  of  the  beastly  thing  across  the  back  of  my 
hand.  I  fell  into  the  water,  but  was  picked  up  by 
my  sailors,  and  managed  to  get  on  board  again. 


78  HOBART  PASHA 

Had  it  not  been  for  a  clever  young  assistant  sur- 
geon, who  bound  up  the  wound  in  a  most  scientific 
manner,  I  should  probably  have  quite  lost  the  use 
of  my  hand ;  the  mark  remains  across  my  knuckles 
to  this  day.* 

*  An  Edinburgh  reviewer  declares  that  Hobart  was  not 
present  when  this  incident  occurred ,  but  that  he  was  familiar 
with  the  country,  intimate  with  Lieutenant  Gumming,  and 
no  doubt  got  the  story  from  that  officer's  own  lips.  For  an 
explanation  of  this  queer  mental  twist,  see  the  Introduction. 
(Ed.) 


CHAPTER  VII 

IX)VE   AND    MURDER 

1WAS  once  sent  from  Rio  to  Demerara,  an 
English  colony  on  the  coast  of  Brazil,  with  a 
cargo  of  blacks  that  we  had  freed.  Then  it 
was  that  I  had  a  good  opportunity  of  studying 
the  character  of  these  people  certainly  in  their 
primitive  state,  and  if  ever  men  and  women  re- 
sembled wild  animals  it  was  my  swarthy  charges. 
When  I  arrived  at  Demerara  I  handed  them  over 
to  their  new  masters,  to  whom  they  were  appren- 
ticed for  seven  years,  and  from  all  I  can  under- 
stand they  were,  during  their  apprenticeship, 
treated  pretty  much  as  slaves  in  every  respect. 

During  the  time  I  visited  Demerara  (and  I 
fancy  it  is  very  slightly  changed  now)  it  was  one 
of  the  vilest  holes  in  creation.  It  is  built  on  a 
low  sandy  point  of  land  at  the  entrance  of  a  great 
river,  and  is  almost  the  hottest  place  on  the  earth. 
Mosquitoes  in  thousands  of  millions;  nothing  for 
the  natives  to  do  but  to  cultivate  sugar-canes  and 
to  perspire.  There  were  two  crack  regiments 
quartered  at  Demerara,  who,  having  to  withstand 

79 


80  HOBART  PASHA 

the  dreadful  monotony  of  doing  nothing,  took,  I 
fear,  to  living  rather  too  well;  the  consequence 
was  that  many  a  fine  fellow  had  been  carried  off 
by  yellow  fever.  For  my  part,  I  took  a  rather 
high  flight  in  the  way  of  pastime  by  falling  (as  I 
imagined)  desperately  in  love  with  the  governor's 
daughter.  The  governor,  I  must  tell  my  readers, 
was  a  very  great  swell,  a  general,  a  K.C.B.,  &c., 
and  his  daughter  was  a  mighty  pretty  girl,  much 
run  after  by  the  garrison ;  so  it  was  thought  great 
impertinence  on  my  part,  as  a  humble  sublieuten- 
ant, to  presume  to  make  love  to  the  reigning,  if 
not  the  only,  beauty  in  the  place. 

However,  audacity  carried  me  on,  and  I  soon 
became  No.  1  in  the  young  lady's  estimation.  I 
used  to  ride  with  her,  spent  the  evenings  in  the 
balcony  of  Government  House  with  her,  sent  her 
flowers  every  morning,  and  so  on,  till  at  last  people 
began  to  talk,  and  steps  were  taken  by  her  nu- 
merous admirers  to  stop  my  wild  career.  This 
was  done  in  a  somewhat  startling  way  (premedi- 
tated, as  I  found  out  afterwards).  One  evening 
I  was  playing  at  whist,  one  of  my  opponents  being 
a  momentarily  discarded  lover  of  my  young  lady. 
I  thought  he  was  looking  very  distrait;  however, 
things  went  off  quietly  enough  for  some  time,  till 
on  some  trifling  question  arising  concerning  the 
rules  of  the  game,  the  young  man  suddenly  and 


LOVE  AND  MURDER  81 

quite  gratuitously  insulted  me  most  grossly,  end- 
ing his  insolent  conduct  by  throwing  his  cards  in 
my  face.  This  was  more  than  I  could  put  up 
with,  so  I  called  him  out,  and  the  next  morning 
put  a  ball  into  his  ankle,  which  prevented  him 
dancing  for  a  long  time  to  come.  He,  being  the 
best  dancer  in  the  colony,  was  rather  severely 
punished;  it  seems  that  he  had  undertaken  to  bell 
the  cat,  hardly  expecting  such  unpleasant  results. 

On  returning  home  after  the  hostile  meeting  I 
found  a  much  more  formidable  adversary  in  the 
shape  of  the  governor  himself,  who  was  stamping 
furiously  up  and  down  the  verandah  of  my  apart- 
ment. He  received  me  with,  "  What  do  you  mean, 
young  sir,  by  making  love  to  my  daughter?  You 
are  a  mere  boy."  (I  was  twenty  and  did  not  rel- 
ish his  remark. )  "  What  means  have  you  got  ?  " 

After  the  old  gentleman's  steam  had  gone  down 
a  little  I  replied,  "  Really,  general,  I  hardly  know 
how  to  answer  you.  Your  daughter  and  I  are 
very  good  friends,  the  place  is  most  detestably 
dull,  there  is  nothing  to  do,  and  if  we  amuse  our- 
selves with  a  little  love-making,  surely  there  can 
be  no  great  harm."  This  rejoinder  of  mine  made 
things  worse;  I  thought  the  old  boy  would  have 
had  a  fit.  At  last  he  said,  "  The  mail  steamer 
leaves  for  England  to-morrow;  you  shall  go  home 
by  her ;  I  order  you  to  do  so !  "  I  replied  that  I 


82  HOBART  PASHA 

should  please  myself,  and  that  I  was  not  under  his 
orders.  The  general  went  away  uttering  threats. 
After  he  was  gone  I  thought  seriously  over  the 
matter.  I  calculated  that  my  income  of  120Z.  a 
year  would  scarcely  suffice  to  keep  a  wife,  and  I 
decided  to  renounce  my  dream  of  love.  I  went  to 
pay  a  farewell  visit  to  my  young  lady,  but  found 
that  she  was  locked  up,  so  away  I  went  and  soon 
forgot  all  about  it.  Shortly  afterwards  I  heard 
that  the  governor's  daughter  married  the  man 
whose  leg  I  had  lamed  for  his  impertinence  to 
me. 

My  last  adventure  while  employed  in  the  sup- 
pression of  the  slave  trade  is  perhaps  worth  de- 
scribing. 

By  international  law  it  was  ruled  that  a  vessel 
on  her  way  to  Africa,  if  fitted  out  in  a  certain  man- 
ner, whereby  it  was  evident  that  she  was  employed 
in  the  nefarious  traffic  of  slavery,  was  liable  to 
capture  and  condemnation  by  the  mixed  tribunals, 
or  in  other  words  became  the  lawful  prize  of  her 
captors. 

While  cruising  off  Pernambuco  we  boarded  a 
Portuguese  vessel  bound  to  Africa,  so  evidently  fit- 
ted out  for  the  purpose  of  slave  trade  that  my 
captain  took  possession  of  her,  and  sent  me  to 
convey  her  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  for  adjudi- 
cation. It  was  the  usual  thing  to  send  the  cap- 


LOVE  AND  MURDER  83 

tain  of  a  vessel  so  captured  as  a  prisoner  on  board 
his  ship,  so  that  he  might  be  interrogated  at  the 
trial.  In  this  case  the  master  and  three  of  his 
crew  were  sent.  The  prize  crew  consisted  of  my- 
self and  six  men.  Now  the  captain  was  an  ex- 
ceedingly gentlemanlike  man,  a  good  sailor,  and 
a  first-rate  navigator. 

At  first  I  treated  him  as  a  prisoner,  but  by  de- 
grees he  insinuated  himself  into  my  good  graces  to 
such  an  extent  that  after  a  while  I  invited  him  to 
mess  with  me ;  in  fact,  made  a  friend  of  him,  little 
thinking  of  the  serpent  I  was  nourishing. 

For  several  days  all  went  well.  I  was  as  unsus- 
picious as  a  child  of  foul  play.  We  lived  together 
and  worked  our  daily  navigation  together,  played 
at  cards  together,  in  fact  were  quite  chums.  The 
three  men  who  were  supposed  to  be  prisoners  were 
allowed  considerable  liberty,  and  as  they  had,  as 
I  found  out  afterwards,  a  private  stock  of  grog 
stowed  away  somewhere,  which  they  occasionally 
produced  and  gave  to  my  men,  they  managed  to  be 
pretty  free  to  do  as  they  wished.  For  all  that,  I 
ordered  that  the  three  prisoners  should  be  confined 
below  during  the  night. 

As  the  weather  was  very  hot  I  always  slept  in 
a  little  place  on  deck  called  a  bunk,  a  thing  more 
like  a  dog-kennel  than  aught  else  I  can  compare  it 
to,  excepting  that  the  hole  for  entrance  and  exit 


84  HOBART  PASHA 

was  somewhat  larger  than  that  generally  used  for 
the  canine  species. 

I  always  slept  with  a  pistol  (revolvers  were  un- 
known in  those  days)  under  my  pillow.  Luckily 
for  me  that  I  did  so,  as  the  result  will  show. 

I  had  remarked  (this  I  thought  of  afterwards) 
that  the  prisoner  captain  and  some  of  his  men  had 
been  whispering  together  a  good  deal  lately;  but 
not  being  in  the  slightest  degree  suspicious  I 
thought  nothing  of  it. 

One  evening  I  retired  to  my  sleeping  place  as 
usual,  after  having  passed  a  pleasant  chatty  even- 
ing with  my  prisoner.  I  was  settling  myself  to 
sleep,  in  fact  I  think  I  was  asleep  as  far  as  it  would 
be  called  so,  for  I  had  from  habit  the  custom  of 
sleeping  with  one  eye  open,  when  I  saw  or  felt  the 
flash  of  a  knife  over  my  head.  The  entrance  to 
my  couch  was  very  limited,  so  that  my  would-be 
murderer  had  some  difficulty  in  striking  the  fatal 
blow.  Instinct  at  once  showed  me  my  danger. 

To  draw  my  pistol  from  under  my  pillow  was 
the  work  of  a  second ;  to  fire  it  into  the  body  of  the 
man  who  was  trying  to  stab  me,  that  of  another. 
A  groan  and  a  heavy  fall  on  the  deck  told  me 
what  had  happened,  and  springing  out  of  my  sleep- 
ing berth  I  found  my  ci-devant  friend  the  captain 
lying  on  his  face,  dead  as  a  door  nail.  In  the  mean- 
time I  heard  a  row  in  the  fore-part  of  the  ship. 


LOVE  AND  MURDER  86 

On  going  forward  I  saw  one  of  the  prisoners  in  the 
act  of  falling  overboard,  and  another  extended  full 
length  on  the  deck,  while  my  stalwart  quarter- 
master was  flourishing  a  handspike  with  which  he 
had  knocked  one  of  his  assailants  overboard  and 
floored  the  other.  Now  it  will  be  asked  what  was 
the  man  at  the  wheel  doing?  Hereby  hangs  a 
tale.  He  swore  that  he  heard  or  saw  nothing. 
Considering  this  sufficient  evidence  of  his  guilt,  I 
put  him  in  irons.  Shortly  afterwards  he  confessed 
the  whole  story.  It  seems  that  a  conspiracy  had 
been  planned  among  the  prisoners  to  retake  the 
ship  —  that  the  man  at  the  wheel  had  been  bribed 
to  let  free  two  of  the  prisoners,  under  promise  of 
a  large  reward  if  the  result  had  been  the  retaking 
of  the  ship. 

The  only  provision  he  made  was  that  he  was  to 
take  no  murderous  action  against  his  countrymen. 
The  man  at  the  helm  and  the  quarter-master  being 
the  only  men  on  deck,  and  I  being  gone  to  roost, 
all  seemed  easy  enough,  but  Providence  willed  it 
otherwise. 

I  buried  the  captain  in  the  sea  without  further 
ceremony ;  the  man  who  fell  overboard  I  suppose 
was  drowned  (I  did  not  try  to  pick  him  up)  ;  the 
man  knocked  down  was  put  in  irons,  and  all  went 
smoothly  for  the  rest  of  the  voyage;  but  when  I 
arrived  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  without  the 


86  HOBART  PASHA 

captain,  the  lawyers  who  defended  the  ship  wanted 
to  make  out  that  I  had  murdered  him,  and  I  was 
very  nearly  sent  to  prison  on  the  charge  of  murder. 

In  the  above  pages  I  have  endeavored  to  give 
some  notion  of  what  used  to  go  on  in  old  times 
when  there  were  no  steam  launches,  and  when,  I 
may  be  forgiven  for  saying  it,  sailors  were  in 
every  sense  of  the  word  sailors. 

I  could  recount  many  more  adventures  some- 
what similar  to  those  I  have  described,  but  I  do 
not  wish  to  bore  my  readers  or  appear  egotistical 
in  their  eyes.  The  only  comparison  I  would  make 
in  regard  to  our  doings  in  those  days  is  with  the 
work  done  by  the  blockading  squadron  during  the 
civil  war  in  America;  for  if  ever  men  required 
plucky  endurance  and  self-denial  it  was  the  poor 
fellows  who  had  to  keep,  or  endeavor  to  keep, 
blockade-runners  if  not  slavers  from  communicat- 
ing with  the  stormy  shores  of  Florida  and  South 
Carolina.  They  are  too  modest  now  to  tell  us 
what  they  went  through.  Perhaps  forty  years 
hence  they  will  do  as  I  am  doing,  and  recount  some 
of  their  adventures,  which  I  am  convinced  would 
quite  put  into  the  shade  anything  I  or  my  boat's 
crew  ever  did. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  mistaken  in  my  remarks 
about  the  black  race.  I  will  not  venture  to  give 
an  opinion  as  to  what  Providence  meant  to  be  done 


LOVE  AND  MURDER  87 

with  those  interesting  creatures.  I  only  assert, 
and  this  I  do  from  my  own  personal  experience, 
that  a  black  man  is  a  happier  and  wiser  man  in 
America  than  he  is  in  his  own  wretched  country, 
North  and  South. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  QUEEN'S  YACHT 

I  RETURNED  from  the  Cape  to  England. 
On  arriving  there  I  was  appointed  to  the 
Queen's  yacht,  as  a  reward  for  what  their 
lordships  at  the  Admiralty  were  good  enough  to 
designate  my  active  and  zealous  services  while  em- 
ployed in  suppression  of  the  slave  trade. 

To  be  appointed  to  Her  Majesty's  yacht  was 
in  those  days  considered  a  very  great  distinction. 
Even  now  the  Queen  invariably  chooses  officers 
who  have  seen  what  is  called  "  service."  Such  an 
appointment,  apart  from  the  honor  of  being  so 
near  Her  Majesty,  always  tends  to  rapid  promo- 
tion. 

The  Queen  at  the  time  I  write  of  was  very  fond 
of  cruising  in  her  yacht,  paying  visits  to  foreign 
potentates,  &c.  Her  Majesty  had  been  then  five 
years  married,  with  a  young  family  springing  up 
around  her,  and  her  beloved  husband,  the  Prince 
Consort,  always  with  her,  participating  in  all  her 
pleasures ;  so  we,  the  officers  of  the  Royal  yacht, 
had  a  rare  time  of  it,  were  made  a  lot  of  wherever 

88 


THE  QUEEN'S  YACHT  89 

we  went,  and  thought  ourselves  very  great  men 
indeed.  Amongst  other  trips,  we  conveyed  the 
Royal  family  up  the  Rhine,  where  Her  Majesty 
visited  the  King  of  Prussia  at  Stolzenfels. 

Afterwards  we  went  to  the  Chateau  d'Eu,  where 
Her  Majesty  was  received  by  King  Louis  Philippe 
and  the  Reine  Amelie. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  condescending  kindness 
of  Her  Majesty  and  Prince  Albert  to  all  on  board 
the  Royal  yacht.  As  to  the  Prince  Consort,  he 
treated  the  officers  more  in  the  light  of  companions 
than  subordinates,  always  ready  to  join  us  in  a 
cigar  and  its  accompanying  friendly  conversation. 

Apropos  of  smoking,  I  cannot  refrain  from  men- 
tioning a  little  incident  that  happened  on  board 
the  Victoria  and  Albert,  that  I,  for  one,  shall 
never  forget.  Her  Gracious  Majesty  never  ap- 
proved of  smoking,  and  it  was  only  through  the 
kind  consideration  of  the  Prince  Consort  that  we 
were  allowed  to  indulge  in  an  occasional  cigar  in 
the  cow-house.  The  cow-house  was  a  little  place 
fitted  up  for  two  pretty  small  Alderney  cows,  kept 
specially  for  supplying  milk  and  butter  for  the 
Royal  table.  - 

Her  Majesty  was  very  fond  of  these  animals 
and  had  the  habit  of  visiting  them  every  day,  and 
the  young  Princess  used  to  be  held  up  to  look  in 
at  the  window,  out  of  which  there  was  room  for 


90  HOBART  PASHA 

the  favored  cows  to  stretch  their  heads.  One 
evening  we  were  smoking  as  usual  when  I  espied  a 
pot  of  blue  paint  on  the  deck  of  the  cow-house, 
with,  as  bad  luck  would  have  it,  a  brush  in  the 
pot.  I  cannot  say  what  induced  me,  but  I  de- 
liberately took  the  brush  and  painted  the  tips  of 
the  noses  and  the  horns  of  both  animals  a  pretty 
light  blue.  Having  done  this  I  thought  no  more 
of  the  matter.  The  next  morning  Her  Majesty 
—  well,  I  think  I  had  better  say  no  more  about  it. 
I,  the  culprit,  was  denounced  and  had  to  keep  out 
of  the  way  for  a  day  or  two.  Then  it  was  that 
the  good-natured  Prince  proved  himself  a  friend, 
and  got  me  out  of  my  scrape. 

I  passed  two  of  the  happiest  years  of  my  life  in 
the  Queen's  yacht,  after  which  I  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  lieutenant,*  and  appointed  to  a  ship 
in  the  Mediterranean,**  where  I  passed  for  several 
years  the  usual  humdrum  life  of  a  naval  officer 
during  times  of  profound  peace. 

However,  while  serving  as  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Mediterranean,  I  had  the  advantage  of  taking  part 
in  one  of  the  most  interesting  political  events  of 
the  century,  namely,  the  flight  of  Pius  IX.  from 

»  September,  1845.     (Ed.) 

**The  Rattler,  Captain  H.  Smith.  He  then  served  for 
about  three  years  in  the  Mediterranean  as  lieutenant  of  the 
Bulldog,  Commander  Key.  (Ed.) 


THE  QUEEN'S  YACHT  91 

Rome.  The  ship  I  was  in  was  stationed  at  Civita 
Vecchia,  the  sea-port  of  Rome,  partly  in  order  to 
protect  British  interests  —  that  is,  the  persons  and 
properties  of  British  subjects  —  partly  with  the 
object  of  taking  that  half-hearted  part  in  religious 
politics  which  has  always  been  such  a  humiliating 
role  for  England. 

We  had  an  accredited  agent,  a  nondescript  sort 
of  person,  representing  England  at  the  court  of 
Pope  Pius  IX.  This  gentleman's  duty  was  to 
watch  and  report,  but  not  to  act.  It  was  through 
him  that  England's  idea  of  the  policy  to  be  pur- 
sued by  the  Pope  was  conveyed.  We  did  not,  and 
we  did,  want  to  interfere.  The  question  of  the 
balance  of  power  of  Italy  as  an  independent  nation 
was  too  important  to  neglect;  it  was  impossible 
to  separate  altogether  religion  and  politics.  How- 
ever, at  the  time  I  write  of  things  were  rushing  to 
a  crisis. 

The  Pope,  who  a  short  time  previously  had 
been  considered  the  great  supporter  of  liberty,  was 
now  looked  upon  as  its  enemy.  Garibaldi  was,  in 
a  mad  sort  of  way,  fighting  in  its  cause  —  at  least, 
he  professed  to  do  so.  He  had  marched  with  a 
band  of  howling  volunteers  to  the  gates  of  Rome, 
and  established  himself  there  as  its  conqueror, 
virtually  making  the  Pope  a  prisoner  in  the  Vati- 
can. In  the  meantime  France  interfered  in  the 


92  HOBART  PASHA 

Pope's  cause,  and  sent  General  Oudinot  with  a 
small  army  to  dislodge  Garibaldi.  England's 
doubtful  diplomatic  relations  made  it  necessary  to 
choose  every  sort  of  means  of  communicating  with 
the  Pope,  and  I  had  the  honor  on  more  than  one 
occasion  of  being  the  messenger  chosen  to  com- 
municate, not  only  with  His  Holiness,  but  between 
Garibaldi  and  the  French  commander.  On  the 
first  occasion  I  was  sent  to  Rome  with  despatches 
from  Lord  Palmerston  to  be  delivered  (so  said  my 
orders)  into  the  Pope's  own  hands. 

On  my  arrival  at  Rome  I  went  straight  to  the 
Quirinal  and  asked  to  see  Cardinal  Antonelli. 
When  I  informed  him  of  my  instructions,  he  said 
at  once,  "  You  may  give  your  despatches  to  me ; 
you  cannot  expect  to  see  His  Holiness."  "  No, 
sir ;  to  the  Pope  I  will  give  my  despatches,  or  take 
them  back  again,"  and  from  this  decision  no  per- 
suasions or  threats  would  move  me.  Finding  me 
obstinate  the  Cardinal  at  last  took  me  with  him 
into  a  room  where  the  Pope  was  sitting.  His  Holi- 
ness seemed  in  a  great  state  of  anxiety,  but  was 
most  kind  and  condescending.  He  gave  me  his 
hand  to  kiss,  and  congratulated  me  on  having  been 
so  firm  in  obeying  orders  in  relation  to  my  de- 
spatches. I  afterwards  found  that  these  de- 
spatches influenced  very  much  the  important  step 
taken  by  Pio  Nono  a  few  days  afterwards. 


THE  QUEEN'S  YACHT  93 

Subsequently  I  several  times  conveyed  communi- 
cations between  General  Garibaldi  and  General 
Oudinot.  The  former  had  most  pluckily  taken 
possession  of  an  important  position  inside  the  walls 
of  Rome,  and  it  was  a  hard  piece  of  work  to  dis- 
lodge him. 

I  used  to  gallop  in  between  General  Oudinot's 
camp  and  Garibaldi's  head-quarters,  having1  on 
my  arm  a  red  scarf  for  a  sign  that  I  was  not  a 
belligerent.  My  scarf  was  not  much  use,  however, 
as  I  was  generally  fired  at  all  the  time  that  I  was 
passing  the  space  between  the  French  camp  and 
Garibaldi's  head-quarters  in  Rome. 

I  was  amused  by  the  audacity  with  which  Gari- 
baldi resisted  the  French  army.  I  fancy  he 
wanted  to  delay  matters  so  that  the  Pope  should 
be  induced  to  take  the  ill-advised  step  of  leaving 
Rome,  and  in  this  the  republican  general  succeeded. 
What  went  on  in  Rome,  the  way  in  which  the  Pope 
escaped,  &c.,  I  am  not  able  to  relate.  All  I  know 
is  that  one  fine  morning  a  simple  carriage  arrived 
from  Rome  at  Civita  Vecchia,  bringing  a  portly 
individual  enveloped  in  the  large  cloak  of  an  Eng- 
lish coachman,  and  another  man  in  ordinary  ap- 
parel. They  strolled  down  to  the  place  of  em- 
barkation, and  went  quietly  on  board,  not  (as  was 
expected)  the  English  man-of-war,  but  a  French 
vessel-of-war  which  was  lying  with  her  steam  up. 


94  HOBART  PASHA 

This  vessel  then  left  the  harbor,  almost  un- 
noticed, and  it  was  not  for  hours  afterwards  that 
we  heard  that  His  Holiness  Pius  IX.  was  the 
humble-looking  person  who  had  embarked  before 
our  eyes,  and  thus  got  away  safely  to  Gaeta. 


CHAPTER  IX 

IN  THE  BALTIC 

IN  1854  the  war  (commonly  called  the  Crimean 
war)   broke  out,   and  I  was   appointed  first 

lieutenant  of  H.M.S. *  for  service  in  the 

Baltic. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  excitement  among  us 
all  when,  after  so  many  years  of  inactivity,  we 
were  called  upon  to  defend  the  honor  of  our 
country.  Unfortunately  for  old  England  the 
Baltic  fleet  was  put  under  the  command  of  Sir 

C.  N ,**  "  fighting  old  Charley  "  as  he  was 

called,  though  it  was  not  long  before  we  discovered 
that  there  was  not  much  fight  left  in  him.  It  might 
well  be  said  by  those  generously  inclined  towards 
him,  in  the  words  of  the  old  song,  that  the 

Bullets  and-  the  gout 

Had  so  knocked  his  hull  about, 

That  he'd  never  more  be  fit  for  sea, 

A  finer  fleet  never  sailed  or  steamed  from  Spit- 
head  than  that  destined  for  the  Baltic  in  1854. 

*  The  Bulldog.     (Ed.) 

'•Vice-Admiral  Sir  Charles  Xapier.     (Ed.) 
95 


96  HOBART  PASHA 

The  signal  from  its  commander,  "  Lads,  war  is  de- 
clared! Sharpen  your  cutlasses  and  the  day's 
your  own,"  sent  a  thrill  of  joy  through  every 
breast.  After  following  the  melting  ice  up  the 
Baltic  Sea  to  within  almost  reach  of  the  guns  of 
Cronstadt,  we  waited  till  the  ice  had  disappeared, 
and  then  went  in  as  we  thought  for  the  attack. 

The  ship  to  which  I  belonged  being  a  steamer, 
and  drawing  much  less  water  than  the  line-of-battle 
ships,  led  the  way.  A  grander  sight  could  not  be 
conceived  than  that  of  twenty  splendid  line-of- 
battle  ships,  formed  in  two  lines,  steaming  straight 
up  to  the  frowning  batteries  of  Cronstadt.  On 
our  approaching  the  batteries  a  shot  was  fired, 
and  fell  alongside  the  ship  I  was  in,  which,  as  I 
said,  was  leading  for  the  purpose  of  sounding, 
when,  to  our  astonishment  and  disgust,  the  signal 
was  made  from  the  flag-ship  to  the  fleet  "  Stop ! " 
and  immediately  afterwards,  to  "  anchor." 

It  is  not  for  me  to  say  "  the  reason  why."  All 
that  I  can  vouch  for  is  that,  in  the  general  opinion 
of  competent  judges,  had  we  gone  on  we  could 
have  taken  or  destroyed  Cronstadt,  instead  of 
which  —  what  was  done?  They  sent  to  England 
for  special  boats  to  be  made  ready  for  the  next 
summer,  when  the  attack  would  be  made  on  Cron- 
stadt. 

We  remained  a  few  days  at  anchor  off  that  place, 


IN  THE  BALTIC  97 

when  some  half  of  the  fleet  were  detached  to  the 
Aland  Islands,  where  an  insignificant  fort  called 
Bomarsund  was  to  be  attacked  —  not  by  the  Eng- 
lish and  French  fleets,  who  were  fit  to  do  any  mortal 
thing,  but  by  an  army  fetched  from  France.  When 
the  army  came,  the  poor  little  fort  attacked  by  the 
fleet  on  the  seaside,  and  on  the  shore  by  the  soldiers, 
after  firing  a  few  shots  surrendered.  During  the 
attack  I  was  appointed  acting  commander  of 

H.M.S. ,*  and  was  mentioned  honorably  in 

despatches. 

Many  promotions  were  made  for  the  taking  of 
Bomarsund,  but  I  fancy  I  had  as  usual  given  my 
opinion  too  freely,  as  I  was  left  out  in  the  cold. 
I  shall  never  forget  old  Charley's  answer  to  me 
when  I  applied  for  my  promotion,  it  was  so  worthy 
of  him.  He  said,  "  Don't  ye  come  crying  to  me, 
Sir;  you  are  a  lord's  son:  I'll  have  nothing  to 
do  wi'  ye." 

Immediately  after  the  capture  of  Bomarsund, 
the  Admiral  detached  a  small  squadron  under  Cap- 
tain S to  reconnoitre  the  Russian  port  of 

Abo.  Of  that  squadron  the  vessel  of  which  I  was 
commander  formed  one.  We  left  with  sealed 
orders,  which  were  not  to  be  opened  until  we  ar- 
rived at,  or  near  to,  our  destination. 

On  sighting  the  enemy's  port  we  perceived  that 
*The  Driver.  (Ed.) 


98  HOBART  PASHA 

every  preparation  was  being  made  to  give  us  a 
warm  reception.  A  council  of  war  was  held  on 
board  the  senior  officer's  ship,  at  which  council  the 
sealed  orders  were  opened,  when  to  our  disgust  it 
wag  found  within  that  we  were  ordered  "  not  to 
fight,  merely  to  reconnoitre." 

Sickening  humiliation !  There  were  the  Russian 
gunboats  inside  the  bar  of  the  harbor  of  Abo,  firing 
at  us  with  all  their  might.  The  forts  on  the 
heights,  such  as  they  were,  very  insignificant 
temporary  batteries  of  field-pieces,  had  commenced 
to  get  the  range  of  the  ships ;  but  as  we  were  not 
to  fight,  we  took  a  sulky  shot  or  two  at  the  enemy 
and  retired. 

To  this  day  I  cannot  understand  the  policy  that 
actuated  this  weak,  vacillating  conduct  on  the  part 
of  our  chief.  But  some  idea  may  be  given  of  his 
fighting  notions  by  the  following  occurrence,  of 
which  I  was  a  witness. 

One  morning  despatches  arrived  from  England. 
A  signal  was  made  from  the  flag-ship  *  for  com- 
manding officers  to  repair  on  board  that  vessel. 
On  our  arrival  there,  we  were  asked  to  sit  down 
to  breakfast.  Our  chief,  who  was  opening  his 
letters,  suddenly  threw  a  despatch  over  the  table 

to  S ,  the  admiral  of  the  fleet,  saying,  "  What 

would  ye  do,  mun,  if  ye  received  a  letter  like  this  ?  " 
*The  Duke  of  Wellington.  (Ed.) 


IN  THE  BALTIC  99 

S ,  after  reading  the  letter  said,  "  If  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  like  that,  I'd  attack  Revel  or  Svea- 
borg  if  I  lost  half  my  fleet."  Our  chief's  answer 
I  shall  never  forget.  It  was :  "  I  haven't  got 

nerve  to  do  it,  and  I'm  sure  C hasn't."  There 

are  many  living  besides  myself  who  can  vouch  for 
the  accuracy  of  this  statement. 

I  shall  say  no  more  of  the  doings  of  the  Eng- 
lish fleet  in  the  Baltic  during  that  year.  Suffice 
it,  that  if  ever  open  mutiny  was  displayed  —  not 
by  the  crews  of  the  ships,  but  by  many  of  the 
captains,  men  who  attained  the  highest  rank  in 
their  profession  —  it  was  during  the  cruise  in  the 
Baltic  in  1854:  and  no  wonder. 

Many  gallant  deeds  were  performed  by  single 
ships,  but  the  fleet  did  absolutely  nothing,  except 
help  to  capture  Bomarsund.  I  returned  to  Eng- 
land disgusted  and  disheartened.  The  next  year 
the  commander-in-chief  was  changed;  I  was  ap- 
pointed to  his  ship,  and  we  went  again  to  the  Baltic, 
taking  with  us  all  the  necessary  appurtenances  for 
bombarding  forts  and  attacking  the  enemy's  coast. 

As  soon  as  the  melting  of  the  ice  permitted  we 
arrived  off  Cronstadt,  and  found  that  the  Russians 
had  not  been  asleep  during  our  absence  in  the 
winter  months ;  for  they  had  defended  the  ap- 
proaches to  that  place  to  such  an  extent,  that  an 
attack  was  considered  (and  on  this  occasion  there 


100  HOBART  PASHA 

was  no  difference  of  opinion)  most  unadvisable. 
So  we  fell  back  on  Sveaborg,  which  place  was  bom- 
barded by  the  combined  fleets,  I  venture  to  think 
most  successfully,  and  I  believe,  had  we  had  a 
force  to  land,  we  could  have  taken  possession  of 
that  large  and  important  fortress. 

Our  losses  during  the  operation  were  small  on 
board  the  squadron  of  mortar-boats  which  I  had 
the  good  luck  to  command  —  some  fifty-eight  men 
hors  de  combat. 

In  this  service  I  received  my  promotion  to  the 
rank  of  commander,  and  returned  to  England. 

Peace  was  made  between  Russia  and  England, 
previous  to  which,  however,  I  was  appointed  to  a 
vessel  in  the  Mediterranean  which  formed  part  of 
the  fleet  off  Sebastopol.  Unfortunately,  I  arrived 
too  late  to  see  much  active  service  there. 

While  serving  as  a  commander  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, I  was  principally  under  the  command  of 
Sir  Wm.  M ,*  a  man  whose  reputation  as  be- 
ing the  smartest  officer  in  the  navy,  I  must  venture 
to  say,  I  think  was  greatly  exaggerated,  though 
he  was  doubtless  what  is  called  a  "  smart  officer." 

His  idea  was  to  rule  with  a  rod  of  iron,  and 

never  to  encourage  anyone  by  praising  zealous  and 

active  service.     He  used  to  say,  "  I  am  here  to  find 

fault  with,  not  to  praise,  officers  under  my  com- 

*  Sir  William  Martin.     (Ed.) 


IN  THE  BALTIC  101 

mand."  So  many  a  fine  fellow's  zeal  was  damped 
by  knowing  that  no  encouragement  would  follow 
in  the  way  of  appreciation  from  his  chief,  however 
much  he  might  have  merited  it. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  recounting  a  very  amus- 
ing incident  that  occurred  in  connection  with  my 

command  of  H.M.S.  F .  I  may  mention  that, 

differing  as  I  did  most  materially  with  the  system 
of  discipline  followed  by  the  commander-in-chief, 
I  was  no  favorite  of  his. 

One  day,  however,  I  was  somewhat  surprised  at 
being  ordered  to  prepare  for  the  official  inspection 
of  my  ship,  and  by  no  less  a  person  than  Sir  W. 

M himself.  I  must  mention  that  one  of  the 

crotchets  of  the  chief  was  that  vessels  such  as 
mine  —  namely,  a  gunboat  of  the  first  class  — 
could  be  floated  off  the  shore,  in  case  of  their 
stranding,  by  water-casks  being  lashed  round  them. 
So  orders  were  given  that  all  vessels  of  that  class 
were  to  lumber  their  decks  with  water-casks.  I 
did  so,  according  to  orders ;  but,  not  having  the 
least  confidence  in  the  manner  in  which  the  com- 
mander-in-chief proposed  to  employ  them,  I  uti- 
lised them,  as  will  be  seen  presently,  for  an  entirely 
different  purpose. 

The  day  of  my  ship's  inspection  was  evidently 
not  one  of  my  lucky  days.  To  begin  with,  a  horrid 
little  monkey  belonging  to  the  crew  —  amusing 


102  HOBART  PASHA 

himself  running  about  in  the  hammock-nettings 
near  to  the  gangway  over  which  the  great  man 
had  to  pass  —  seeing  something  he  thought  un- 
usual, made  a  rush  as  the  commander-in-chief  was 
stepping  on  board,  stooped  down,  and  deliberately 
took  the  cocked  hat  off  his  head,  dropped  it  into 
the  sea,  then  started  up  the  rigging  chattering  with 
delight  at  the  mischief  he  had  done.  The  cocked 
hat  was  at  once  recovered,  wiped  dry,  and  placed 
in  its  proper  place.  The  admiral,  always  stern 
as  a  matter  of  principle,  looked,  after  this  incident, 
sterner  than  usual,  hardly  recognised  me  except 
by  a  formal  bow,  then  proceeded  to  muster  the 
officers  and  crew.  This  over,  he  commenced  to 
walk  round  the  deck.  I  remarked  with  pleasure 
his  countenance  change  when  he  saw  how  neatly 
his  pet  water-casks  were  painted  and  lashed  to  the 
inner  gunnel  of  the  ship.  He  said  quite  gra- 
ciously, "  I  am  glad  to  see,  Captain  Hobart,  that 
you  pay  such  attention  to  my  orders."  I  began 
to  think  I  was  mistaken  in  my  idea  of  the  man; 
but,  alas !  for  my  exuberance  of  spirits  and  satisfac- 
tion, while  the  admiral  was  closely  examining  one. 
of  his  pet  casks,  his  face  came  almost  in  contact 
with  the  opening  of  the  barrel,  when,  to  his  and  my 
horror,  a  pretty  little  spaniel  put  out  his  head 
and  licked  the  great  man  on  the  nose.  . 

J  shall  never  forget  the  admiral's  countenance; 


IN  THE  BALTIC  103 

he  turned  blue  with  anger,  drew  himself  up,  ordered 
his  boat  to  be  manned,  and  walked  over  the  side  not 
saying  a  word  to  anyone. 

The  facts  which  led  to  this  untoward  occurrence 
were  that,  seeing  the  necessity  of  having  my  decks 
crowded  with  what  I  considered  useless  lumber,  in 
the  form  of  water-casks,  I  had  utilised  them  by 
making  them  into  dog-kennels.  The  admiral  hated 
dogs,  hated  sport  of  all  kind,  and,  after  what  oc- 
curred, I  fancy  hated  me.  Well,  I  didn't  love  him ; 
I  never  saw  him  again. 

The  very  next  day  I  was  ordered  to  the  coast  of 
Syria:  just  what  I  wanted,  i.e.,  to  be  out  of  the 
commander-in-chief  s  way,  and  to  have  some  good 
shooting. 


CHAPTER  X 

BLOCKADE-RUNNING 

ON  receiving  my  rank  as  post-captain,  I 
found  myself  shelved,  as  it  were,  for  four 
years,  while  waiting  my  turn  for  a  com- 
mand. This  was  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
navy,  so  there  was  no  getting  out  of  it.  What 
was  I  to  do?  I  consulted  several  of  my  friends 
who  were  in  a  similar  position,  and,  like  myself, 
did  not  wish  to  remain  idle  so  long,  so  we  looked 
about  us  for  some  enterprise,  as  something  to  do. 
The  upshot  of  it  was  that  we  thought  of  trying 
if  we  could  not  conceive  some  plan  for  breaking 
through  the  much-talked-of  blockade  of  the  South- 
ern States  of  America,  then  in  revolt  against  the 
government  at  Washington.  Four  of  us  young 
post-captains  took  this  decision,  and  as  it  would 
have  been,  perhaps,  considered  infra  dig.  for  real 
naval  officers  to  engage  in  such  an  enterprise,  we 
lent  our  minds,  if  not  our  bodies,  to  certain  alter 
egos,  whom  we  inspired,  if  we  did  not  personally 
control,  as  to  their  line  of  conduct.  My  man  I 
will  call  Roberts,  whose  adventures  I  now  give, 
104 


BLOCKADE-RUNNING  105 

and  in  whose  name  I  shall  write.  There  are  people 
who  insist  that  I  was  Captain  Roberts;  all  that 
such  people  have  to  do  is  to  prove  I  was  that 
"  miscreant,"  whoever  he  may  have  been.  The 
following  is  his  narrative: — 

During  the  late  civil  war  in  America  the  ex- 
ecutive government  undertook  the  blockade  of  more 
than  3,000  miles  of  coast,  and  though  nothing 
could  exceed  the  energy  and  activity  of  the  naval 
officers  so  employed,  the  results  were  very  unsatis- 
factory, inasmuch  as  it  was  not  till  absolute  pos- 
session was  taken  of  the  forts  at  the  entrance  of 
the  great  harbors,  such  as  Charleston,  Mobile,  and 
Wilmington,  that  blockade-running  was  stopped. 

I  trust  that  our  American  friends  will  not  be 
too  severe  in  their  censures  on  those  engaged  in 
blockade-running;  for,  I  say  it  with  the  greatest 
respect  for  and  admiration  of  enterprise,  had  they 
been  lookers-on  instead  of  principals  in  the  sad 
drama  that  was  enacted,  they  would  have  been  the 
very  men  to  take  the  lead.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  excitement  of  fighting  did  not  exist. 
One  was  always  either  running  away  or  being  de- 
liberately pitched  into  by  the  broadsides  of  the 
American  cruisers,  the  slightest  resistance  to  which 
would  have  constituted  piracy ;  whereas  capture 
without  resistance  merely  entailed  confiscation  of 
cargo  and  vessel. 


106  HOBART  PASHA 

The  vessel  I  had  charge  of  * —  which  I  had 
brought  out  from  England,  was  one  of  the  finest 
double-screw  steamers  that  had  ever  been  built  by 

D n ;  of  400  tons  burden,  250  horse-power, 

180  feet  long,  and  22  feet  beam  —  and  was,  so  far 
as  sea-going  qualities,  speed,  &c.,  as  handy  a  little 
craft  as  ever  floated.  Our  crew  consisted  of  a 
captain,  three  officers,  three  engineers,  and  twenty- 
eight  men,  including  firemen,  that  is,  ten  seamen 
and  eighteen  firemen.  They  were  all  Englishmen, 
and  as  they  received  very  high  wages,  we  managed 
to  have  picked  men.  In  fact,  the  men-of-war  on 
the  West  India  station  found  it  a  difficult  matter 
to  prevent  their  crews  from  deserting,  so  great  was 
the  temptation  offered  by  the  blockade-runners. 

I  will  begin  by  explaining  how  we  prepared  the 
vessel  for  the  work.  This  was  done  by  reducing 
her  spars  to  a  light  pair  of  lower  masts,  without 
any  yards  across  them;  the  only  break  in  their 
sharp  outline  being  a  small  crow's-nest  on  the  fore- 
mast, to  be  used  as  a  look-out  place.  The  hull, 
which  showed  about  eight  feet  above  water,  was 
painted  a  dull  grey  color  to  render  her  as  nearly  as 
possible  invisible  in  the  night.  The  boats  were 
lowered  square  with  the  gunnels.  Coal  was  taken 
on  board  of  a  smokeless  nature  (anthracite).  The 

*  The  Don;  one  of  the  first  twin  propeller  steamers  ever 
built.     (Ed.) 


BLOCKADE-RUNNING  107 

funnel,  being  what  is  called  "  telescope,"  lowered 
close  down  to  the  deck.  In  order  that  no  noise 
might  be  made,  steam  was  blown  off  under  water. 
In  fact,  every  ruse  was  resorted  to,  to  enable  the 
vessel  to  evade  the  vigilance  of  the  American 
cruisers,  who  were  scattered  about  in  great  numbers 
all  the  way  between  Bermuda  and  Wilmington  — 
the  port  at  the  time  I  write  of  most  frequented 
by  blockade-runners.  While  speaking  of  the  pre- 
cautions used  I  may  mention  that  among  the  fowls 
taken  on  board  as  provisions,  no  cocks  were  al- 
lowed, for  fear  of  their  proclaiming  the  where- 
abouts of  the  blockade-runner.  This  may  seem 
ridiculous,  but  it  was  very  necessary. 

The  distance  from  Bermuda  to  Wilmington  (the 
port  we  were  bound  to)  is  720  miles.  We  started 
in  the  evening.  For  the  first  twenty-four  hours 
we  saw  nothing  to  alarm  us,  but  at  daylight  the 
second  day  there  was  a  large  American  cruiser  not 
half  a  mile  from  us,  right  ahead,  which,  before  we 
could  turn  round,  steamed  straight  at  us,  and  com- 
menced firing  rapidly,  but  very  much  at  random, 
the  shot  and  shell  all  passing  over  or  wide  of  us. 

Fortunately,  according  to  orders  to  have  full 
steam  on  at  daybreak,  we  were  quite  prepared  for 
a  run ;  and  still  more  fortunately  a  heavy  squall  of 
wind  and  rain  that  came  on  helped  us  vastly,  as 
we  were  dead  to  windward  of  the  enemy ;  and  hav- 


108  HOBART  PASHA 

ing  no  top-weights  we  soon  dropped  him  astern. 
He  most  foolishly  kept  yawing,  to  fire  his  bow- 
chasers,  losing  ground  every  time  he  did  so.  By 
eight  o'clock  we  were  out  of  range  —  unhit ;  and 
by  noon  out  of  sight  of  anything  but  smoke. 

Luckily,  the  chase  had  not  taken  us  much  off 
our  course,  as  the  consumption  of  coal  during  a 
run  of  this  sort,  with  boilers  all  but  bursting  from 
high  pressure  of  steam,  was  a  most  serious  con- 
sideration —  there  being  no  coal  in  the  Confederate 
ports,  where  wood  only  was  used,  which  would  not 
suit  our  furnaces. 

We  were  now  evidently  in  very  dangerous  waters, 
steamers  being  reported  from  our  mast-head  every 
hour,  and  we  had  to  keep  moving  about  in  all 
directions  to  avoid  them;  sometimes  stopping  to 
let  one  pass  ahead  of  us,  at  another  time  turning 
completely  round,  and  running  back  on  our  course. 
Luckily,  we  were  never  seen  or  chased.  Night 
came  on,  and  I  had  hoped  that  we  should  have 
made  rapid  progress  till  daybreak  unmolested. 
All  was  quiet  until  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, when  suddenly,  to  our  dismay,  we  found  a 
steamer  close  alongside  of  us.  How  she  had  got 
there  without  our  knowledge  is  a  mystery  to  me 
even  now.  However,  there  she  was,  and  we  had 
hardly  seen  her  before  a  stentorian  voice  howled 
out,  "  Heave-to  in  that  steamer,  or  I'll  sink  you." 


BLOCKADE-RUNNING  109 

It  seemed  as  if  all  was  over,  but  I  determined  to 
try  a  ruse  before  giving  the  little  craft  up.  So 
I  answered,  "  Ay,  ay,  sir,  we  are  stopped."  The 
cruiser  was  about  eighty  yards  from  us.  We 
heard  orders  given  to  man  and  arm  the  quarter- 
boats,  we  saw  the  boats  lowered  into  the  water, 
we  saw  them  coming,  we  heard  the  crews  laughing 
and  cheering  at  the  prospect  of  their  prize.  The 
bowmen  had  just  touched  the  sides  of  our  vessel 
with  their  boat-hooks  when  I  whispered  down  the 
tube  into  the  engine-room,  "  Full  speed  ahead ! " 
and  away  we  shot  into  the  darkness. 

I  don't  know  what  happened;  whether  the  cap- 
tain of  the  man-of-war  thought  that  his  boats  had 
taken  possession,  and  thus  did  not  try  to  stop  us, 
or  whether  he  stopped  to  pick  up  his  boats  in  the 
rather  nasty  sea  that  was  running;  some  one  who 
reads  this  may  know.  All  I  can  say  is,  that  not 
a  shot  was  fired,  and  that  in  less  than  a  minute 
the  pitch  darkness  hid  the  cruiser  from  our  view. 
This  was  a  great  piece  of  luck. 

All  the  next  day  we  passed  in  dodging  about, 
avoiding  the  cruisers  as  best  we  could,  but  always 
approaching  our  post. 

During  the  day  we  got  good  observations  with 
which  our  sounding  agreed;  and  at  sunset  our 
position  was  sixty  miles  due  east  of  the  entrance 
to  Wilmington  river,  off  which  place  were  cruising 


110  HOBART  PASHA 

a  strong  squadron  of  blockading  ships.  The 
American  blockading  squadron,  which  had  under- 
taken the  almost  impossible  task  of  stopping  all 
traffic  along  3,000  miles  of  coast,  consisted  of 
nearly  a  hundred  vessels  of  different  sorts  and 
size  —  bond-fide  men-of-war,  captured  blockade- 
runners,  unemployed  steam-packets,  with  many 
other  vessels  pressed  into  government  service. 
Speed  and  sufficient  strength  to  carry  a  long  gun 
were  the  only  requisites,  the  Confederate  men-of- 
war  being  few  and  far  between.  These  vessels 
were  generally  well  commanded  and  officered,  but 
badly  manned.  The  inshore  squadron  off  Wil- 
mington consisted  of  about  thirty  vessels,  and  lay 
in  the  form  of  a  crescent  facing  the  entrance  to 
Cape  Clear  river,  the  centre  being  just  out  of  range 
of  the  heavy  guns  mounted  on  Fort  Fisher,  the 
horns,  as  it  were,  gradually  approaching  the  shore 
on  each  side ;  the  whole  line  or  curve  covered  about 
ten  miles. 

The  blockade-runners  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
trying  to  get  between  the  vessels  at  either  ex- 
tremity ;  and  the  coast  being  quite  flat  and  danger- 
ous, without  any  landmark,  excepting  here  and 
there  a  tree  somewhat  taller  than  others,  the  cruis- 
ers generally  kept  at  a  sufficient  distance  to  allow 
of  this  being  done.  The  runner  would  then  crawl 
close  along  the  shore,  and  when,  as  near  as  could 


BLOCKADE-RUNNING  111 

be  judged,  opposite  the  entrance  of  the  river,  would 
show  a  light  on  the  vessel's  inshore  side,  which  was 
answered  by  a  very  indistinct  light  being  shown  on 
the  beach,  close  to  the  water's  edge,  and  another 
at  the  background.  These  two  lights  being  got 
into  a  line  was  a  proof  that  the  opening  was  ar- 
rived at;  the  vessels  then  steered  straight  in  and 
anchored  under  the  Confederate  batteries  at  Fort 
Fisher.  More  vessels  were  lost  crawling  along 
this  dangerous  beach  than  were  taken  by  the  cruis- 
ers. I  have  seen  three  burning  at  one  time,  for 
the  moment  a  vessel  struck  she  was  set  fire  to,  to 
prevent  the  blockaders  getting  her  off  when  day- 
light came. 

This  system  of  evading  the  cruisers,  however, 
having  been  discovered,  it  was  put  a  stop  to  by  a 
very  ingenious  method,  by  which  several  vessels 
were  captured  and  an  end  put  to  that  little  game. 
Of  course  I  can  only  conjecture  the  way  in  which 
it  was  done,  but  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  thus. —  At 
the  extreme  end  of  the  line  of  blockaders  lay  one 
of  them  with  a  kedge  anchor,  down  so  close  to  the 
shore  that  she  left  but  a  very  little  space  for  the 
blockade-runner  to  pass  between  her  and  the  beach. 
The  captain  of  the  runner,  however,  trusting  to 
his  vessel's  speed  and  invisibility,  dashed  through 
this  space,  and  having  got  by  the  cruiser  thought 
himself  safe.  Poor  fellow!  he  was  safe  for  a  mo- 


HOB  ART  PASHA 

ment,  but  in  such  a  trap  that  his  only  chance  of 
getting  out  of  it  was  by  running  on  shore  or  giv- 
ing up.  For  no  sooner  had  he  passed  than  up  went 
a  rocket  from  the  cruiser  who  had  seen  the  runner 
rush  by,  and  who  now  moved  a  little  further  in  to- 
wards the  shore,  so  as  to  stop  her  egress  by  the  way 
she  went  in;  and  the  other  vessels  closing  round 
by  a  pre-arranged  plan,  the  capture  or  destruction 
of  the  blockade-runner  was  a  certainty. 

Some  of  the  captains  most  pluckily  ran  their 
vessels  on  shore,  and  frequently  succeeded  in  set- 
ting fire  to  them;  but  the  boats  of  the  cruisers 
were  sometimes  too  sharp  in  their  movements  to 
admit  of  this  being  done,  and  the  treatment  of 
those  who  tried  to  destroy  their  vessels  was,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  very  barbarous  and  unnecessary. 
Moreover,  men  who  endeavored  to  escape  by  jump- 
ing overboard  after  the  vessel  was  on  shore  were 
often  fired  at  by  grape  and  shell,  in  what  seemed 
to  me  a  very  unjustifiable  manner.  Great  allow- 
ance, however,  must  be  made  for  the  men-of-war's 
men,  who  after  many  hard  nights  of  dreary  watch- 
ing constantly  under  weigh,  saw  their  well-earned 
prize  escaping  by  being  run  on  shore  and  set  fire 
to,  just  as  they  imagined  they  had  got  possession. 
On  several  occasions  they  have  been  content  to  tow 
the  empty  shell  of  an  iron  vessel  off  the  shore,  her 
valuable  cargo  having  been  destroyed  by  fire. 


BLOCKADE-RUNNING  113 

But  I  have  left  my  little  craft  lying  as  was  stated- 
about  sixty  miles  from  the  entrance  of  the  river. 
I  had  determined  to  try  a  new  method  of  getting 
through  the  blockading  squadron,  seeing  that  the 
usual  plan,  as  described  above,  was  no  longer 
feasible  or,  at  least,  advisable.  I  have  mentioned 
that  our  position  was  well  defined  by  observations 
and  soundings,  so  we  determined  to  run  straight 
through  the  blockaders,  and  to  take  our  chance. 
When  it  was  quite  dark  we  started  steaming  at 
full  speed.  It  was  extremely  thick  on  the  horizon, 
but  clear  overhead,  with  just  enough  wind  and  sea 
to  prevent  the  little  noise  the  engines  and  screws 
made  being  heard.  Every  light  was  out  —  even 
the  men's  pipes ;  the  masts  were  lowered  on  to  the 

deck ;  and  if  ever  a  vessel  was  invisible  the  D n 

was  that  night. 

We  passed  several  outlying  cruisers,  some  un- 
pleasantly near,  but  still  we  passed  them.  All 
seemed  going  favorably,  when  suddenly  I  saw 
through  my  glasses  the  long  low  line  of  a  steamer 
right  ahead,  lying  as  it  were  across  our  bows  so 
close  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  pass  to 
the  right  or  left  of  her  without  being  seen.  A 
prompt  order  given  to  the  engine-room  (where  the 
chief  engineer  stood  to  the  engines)  to  reverse  one 
engine,  was  as  promptly  obeyed,  and  the  little  craft 
spun  round  like  a  teetotum.  If  I  had  not  seen 


114  HOBART  PASHA 

it,  I  could  never  have  believed  it  possible  that  a 
vessel  would  have  turned  so  rapidly,  and  (although, 
perhaps,  it  is  irrelevant  to  ray  subject)  I  cannot 
refrain  from  bearing  testimony  to  the  wonderful 
powers  of  turning  that  are  given  to  a  vessel  by 
the  application  of  Symond's  turnscrews,  as  he  loves 
to  call  them.  On  this  occasion  £50,000  of  prop- 
erty was  saved  to  its  owners.  I  do  not  believe  the 
cruiser  saw  us  at  all,  and  so  very  important  to  us 
was  the  fact  that  we  had  turned  in  so  short  a 
space,  that  I  scarcely  think  we  lost  five  yards  of 
our  position.  Having  turned  we  stopped  to  re- 
connoitre, and  could  still  see  the  faint  outline  of 
the  cruiser  crawling  (propelled,  probably,  only  by 
the  wind)  slowly  into  the  darkness,  leaving  the  way 
open  to  us,  of  which  we  at  once  took  advantage. 
It  was  now  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning;  our 
lead,  and  an  observation  of  a  friendly  star  told 
us,  that  we  were  rapidly  nearing  the  shore.  But 
it  was  so  fearfully  dark,  that  it  seemed  almost  hope- 
less ever  to  find  our  way  to  the  entrance  of  the 
river,  and  no  one  felt  comfortable.  Still  we 
steamed  slowly  on  and  shortly  made  out  a  small 
glimmer  of  a  light  right  ahead.  We  eased  steam 
a  little,  and  cautiously  approached. 

As  we  got  nearer,  we  could  make  out  the  outline 
of  a  vessel  lying  at  anchor,  head  to  wind,  and  con- 
jectured that  this  must  be  the  senior  officer's  vessel, 


BLOCKADE-RUNNING  115 

which  we  were  told  generally  lay  about  two  miles 
and  a  half  from  the  river's  mouth,  and  which  was 
obliged  to  show  some  sort  of  light  to  the  cruisers 
that  were  constantly  under  weight  right  and  left 
of  her.  The  plan  of  finding  out  this  light,  and 
using  it  as  a  guide  to  the  river's  entrance,  being 
shortly  after  this  time  discovered,  the  vessel  that 
carried  it  was  moved  into  a  different  position  every 
night,  whereby  several  blockade-runners  came  to 
grief. 

Feeling  pretty  confident  now  of  our  position, 
we  went  on  again  at  full  speed,  and  made  out 
clearly  the  line  of  blockaders  lying  to  the  right 
and  left  of  the  ship  which  showed  the  light;  all 
excepting  her  being  apparently  under  weigh.  See- 
ing an  opening  between  the  vessel  at  anchor  and 
the  one  on  her  left,  we  made  a  dash,  and,  thanks 
to  our  disguise  and  great  speed,  got  through  with- 
out being  seen,  and  made  the  most  of  our  way  to- 
wards the  land.  As  a  strong  current  runs  close 
inshore  which  is  constantly  changing  its  course, 
and  there  were  no  lights  or  landmarks  to  guide 
us,  it  was  a  matter  of  great  difficulty  to  find  the 
very  narrow  entrance  to  the  river. 

We  were  now  nearly  out  of  danger  from  cruisers, 
who  seldom  ventured  very  close  inshore  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  batteries;  and  our  pilot,  who  had 
been  throughout  the  voyage  in  bodily  fear  of  an 


116  HOBART  PASHA 

American  prison,  began  to  wake  up,  and,  after 
looking  well  round,  told  us  that  he  could  make  out, 
over  the  long  line  of  surf,  a  heap  of  sand  called 
"  the  mound,"  which  was  a  mark  for  going  into 
the  river. 

This  good  news  emboldened  us  to  show  a  small 
light  from  the  inshore  side  of  the  vessel;  it  was 
promptly  answered  by  two  lights  being  placed  a 
short  distance  apart  on  the  beach,  in  such  a  posi- 
tion that,  when  the  two  were  brought  into  line, 
or,  as  the  sailors  call  it,  into  one,  the  vessel  would 
be  in  the  channel  which  led  into  the  river.  This 
being  done  without  interruption  from  the  cruisers, 
we  steamed  in  and  anchored  safely  under  the  bat- 
teries of  Fort  Fisher. 

Being  now  perfectly  safe,  lights  were  at  once  lit, 
supper  and  grog  served  out  ad  libitum,  everybody 
congratulated  everybody,  and  a  feeling  of  comfort 
and  jollity,  such  as  can  only  be  experienced  after 
three  nights'  and  three  days'  intense  anxiety,  pos- 
sessed us  all.  On  the  morning  breaking  we  counted 
twenty-five  cruisers  lying  as  near  as  they  dared 
venture  off  the  river's  mouth,  and  a  very  pleasant 
sight  it  was,  situated  as  we  were.  There  was  evi- 
dently a  move  among  them  of  an  unusual  kind ;  for 
the  smaller  vessels  were  steaming  in  towards  the 
shore  on  the  north  side,  and  the  ships'  launches, 
with  guns  in  their  bows,  were  pulling  about  from 


BLOCKADE-RUNNING  117 

vessel  to  vessel.  The  cause  of  it  as  day  advanced 
was  but  too  apparent. 

Just  out  of  range  of  Fort  Fisher's  heavy  artil- 
lery, on  the  north  side  of  the  river's  entrance,  a 
splendid  paddle-wheel  blockade-runner  was  lying 
on  the  beach,  having  been  run  on  shore  during  the 
night  to  avoid  capture. 

Her  crew  had  evidently  escaped  to  the  shore, 
and  a  smouldering  smoke  showed  that  she  had 
been  set  fire  to,  and  that  a  little  wind  was  all  that 
was  necessary  to  make  the  flames  break  out.  The 
blockading  ships  do  not  appear  to  have  been  aware 
of  the  damage  they  had  done  till  daylight  discov- 
ered the  vessel  that  they  probably  thought  had 
either  got  into  the  river  or  escaped  to  sea,  lying 
on  the  beach.  However,  they  were  not  slow  in 
making  preparations  for  capturing  her,  if  pos- 
sible. 

Meanwhile,  two  of  the  crew  of  the  blockade- 
runner  managed  to  get  on  board  of  her,  and  setting 
her  on  fire  in  a  dozen  different  places,  everything 
in  the  vessel  was  soon  destroyed,  and  her  red-hot 
sides  made  boarding  an  impossibility. 

So  the  gunboats  retired  out  of  range,  and  the 
artillery  with  the  Whitworth  guns  returned  to  Fort 
Fisher.  The  shell  of  this  vessel  lay  for  months  on 
the  beach  and  was  by  no  means  a  bad  mark  for 
the  blockade-runners  to  steer  by. 


118  HOB  ART  PASHA 

Having  witnessed  this  little  bit  of  excitement 
and  received  on  board  the  crew  of  the  stranded 
vessel,  we  took  a  pilot  and  steamed  up  the  Cape 
Clear  river  to  Wilmington. 

It  will  be  difficult  to  erase  from  my  memory  the 
excitement  of  the  evening  we  made  our  little  craft 
fast  alongside  the  quay  at  Wilmington ;  the  con- 
gratulations we  received,  the  eagerness  with  which 
we  gave  and  received  news,  the  many  questions  we 
asked,  such  as,  "  How  long  shall  we  be  unloading?  " 
"  Was  our  cargo  of  cotton  ready?  "  "  How  many 
bales  could  we  carry?  "  "  How  other  blockade- 
runners  had  fared?"  &c. ;  and  the  visits  from 
thirsty  and  hungry  Southerners  of  all  ranks  and 
denominations,  many  of  whom  had  not  tasted 
alcohol  in  any  form  for  months,  to  whom  whatever 
they  liked  to  eat  or  drink  was  freely  given,  accom- 
panied by  congratulations  on  all  sides.  All  these 
things,  combined  with  the  delightful  feeling  of  se- 
curity from  capture,  and  the  glorious  prospect  of  a 
good  night's  rest  in  a  four-poster,  wound  one  up 
into  an  inexpressible  state  of  jollity.  After  break- 
fast we  lounged  down  to  the  quays  on  the  river- 
side, which  were  piled  mountains  high  with  cotton- 
bales  and  tobacco  tierces,  and  mixed  in  the  lively 
and  busy  scene  of  discharging,  selling,  and  ship- 
ping cargoes. 


CHAPTER  XI 

EXCITING   ADVENTURES 

I   MAY  now,  I  trust,  without  appearing  egotis- 
tical, digress  slightly  from  the  narrative  to 
give  an  account  of  how  I  managed  with  my 
own  private  venture,  which  I  had  personally  to 
attend  to ;  for  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  mentior 
that  in  blockade-running  every  one  must  look  after 
himself.     If  he  does  not  his  labor  will  have  been 
in  vain. 

Before  leaving  England  I  had  met  a  Southern 
lady,  who,  on  my  inquiring  as  to  what  was  most 
needed  by  her  compatriots  in  the  beleaguered 
States,  replied  curtly :  "  Corsages,  sir,  I  reckon." 
So  I  determined  to  buy  a  lot  of  the  articles  she 
referred  to,  and  on  arriving  at  Glasgow  (the  port 
from  which  we  originally  started)  I  visited  an  em- 
porium that  seemed  to  contain  everything  in  the 
world ;  and  I  astonished  a  young  fellow  behind  the 
counter  by  asking  for  a  thousand  pairs  of  stays. 
Such  an  unusual  request  sent  him  off  like  a  rocket 
to  higher  authority,  with  whom  I  made  a  bargain 
for  the  article  required  at  one  shilling  and  a  penny 
119 


120  HOBART  PASHA 

per  pair,  to  be  delivered  the  next  day.  At  the 
same  time  I  bought  five  hundred  boxes  of  Cockle's 
pills,  and  a  quantity  of  toothbrushes.  Well,  here 
I  was  in  Wilmington,  with  all  these  valuables  on 
my  hands ;  the  corsages  were  all  right,  but  the 
horrid  little  Cockles  were  bursting  their  casements 
and  tumbling  about  my  cabin  in  all  directions. 
I  was  anxious,  with  the  usual  gallantry  of  my 
cloth,  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  ladies  first.  The 
only  specimens  of  the  sex  that  I  could  see  moving 
about  were  colored  women,  who  were  so  little  en- 
cumbered with  dress  that  I  began  to  think  I  was 
mistaken  in  the  article  recommended  by  my  lady 
friend  as  being  the  most  required  out  here.  After 
waiting  some  time,  and  no  one  coming  to  bid  for 
my  ware,  I  was  meditating  putting  up  on  the  ship's 
side  a  large  board  with  the  name  of  the  article  of 
ladies'  dress  written  on  it  —  a  pillbox  for  a  crest, 
and  toothbrushes  as  supporters  —  when  an  indi- 
vidual came  on  board  and  inquired  whether  I 
wished  "  to  trade."  I  greedily  seized  upon  him, 
took  him  into  my  retreat,  and  made  him  swallow 
three  glasses  of  brandy  in  succession,  after  which 
we  commenced  business. 

I  will  not  trouble  my  reader  with  the  way  in 
which  we  traded ;  regarding  the  corsages,  suffice  it 
to  say  that  he  bought  them  all  at  what  seemed  to 
me  the  enormous  price  of  twelve  shillings  each, 


EXCITING  ADVENTURES  121 

giving  me  a  profit  of  nearly  eleven  hundred  per 
cent. 

On  my  asking  where  the  fair  wearers  of  the 
article  he  had  bought  could  be  seen,  he  told  me 
that  all  the  ladies  had  gone  into  the  interior.  I 
hope  they  found  my  importations  useful ;  they  cer- 
tainly were  not  ornamental. 

Elated  as  I  was  by  my  success,  I  did  not  forget 
the  Cockles,  and  gently  insinuated  to  my  now  some- 
what excited  friend  that  we  might  do  a  little  more 
trading.  To  my  disgust  he  told  me  that  he  had 
never  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  Cockle's  pills.  I 
strongly  urged  him  to  try  half-a-dozen,  assuring 
him  that  .if  he  once  experienced  their  invigorating 
effects  he  would  never  cease  to  recommend  them. 
But  the  ignorant  fellow  didn't  seem  to  see  it;  for, 
finishing  his  brandy  and  buttoning  up  his  pockets, 
he  walked  on  shore.  I  never  thought  of  naming 
toothbrushes,  for  what  could  a  man  who  had  never 
heard  of  Cockles  know  of  the  luxury  of  tooth- 
brushes? So  I  sat  quietly  down,  and  began  to 
sum  up  my  profits  on  the  corsages. 

I  was  deeply  engaged  in  this  occupation  when 
I  felt  a  heavy  hand  on  my  shoulder.  Turning 
round  I  saw  my  friend  the  trader,  who,  after  hav- 
ing smothered  my  boot  in  tobacco-juice,  said,  "  I 
say,  captain,  have  you  got  any  coffin-screws  on 
trade?  "  His  question  rather  staggered  me,  but 


HOBART  PASHA 

he  explained  that  they  had  no  possible  way  of  mak- 
ing this  necessary  article  in  the  Southern  States, 
and  that  they  positively  could  not  keep  the  bodies 
quiet  in  their  coffins  without  them,  especially  when 
being  sent  any  distance  for  interment.  As  I  had 
no  acquaintance,  I  am  happy  to  say,  with  the  sort 
of  thing  he  wanted,  it  was  agreed  upon  between  us 
that  I  should  send  to  England  for  a  quantity,  he, 
on  his  part,  promising  an  enormous  profit  on  their 
being  delivered. 

I  cannot  help  remarking  on  the  very  great  in- 
convenience and  distress  that  were  entailed  on  the 
South  through  the  lack  of  almost  every  descrip- 
tion of  manufacture.  The  Southern  States,  hav- 
ing always  been  the  producing  portion  of  the 
Union,  had  trusted  to  the  North  and  to  Europe 
for  its  manufactures.  Thus,  when  they  were  shut 
out  by  land  and  by  sea  from  the  outer  world,  their 
raw  material  was  of  but  little  service  to  them. 
This  fact  tended,  more  than  is  generally  believed, 
to  weaken  the  Southern  people  in  the  glorious 
struggle  they  made  for  what  they  called  and  be- 
lieved to  be  their  rights, —  a  struggle,  the  horrors 
of  which  are  only  half  understood  by  those  who 
were  not  eye-witnesses  of  it.  Whether  the  cause 
was  good,  whether  armed  secession  was  justifiable 
or  not,  is  a  matter  regarding  which  opinions  differ. 
But  it  is  undeniable  that  all  fought  and  endured 


EXCITING  ADVENTURES  123 

in  a  manner  worthy  of  a  good  and  a  just  cause, 
and  many  were  thoroughly  and  conscientiously 
convinced  it  was  so.  Such  men  as  Lee,  Stonewall 
Jackson,  and  others  would  never  have  joined  any 
cause  against  their  convictions ;  but  it  won't  do  for 
a  blockade-runner  to  attempt  to  moralise.  So  to 
return  to  my  story. 

My  readers  will  be  desirous  of  knowing  what 
was  the  result  of  my  speculation  in  Cockles  and 
toothbrushes.  Regarding  the  former,  I  am  sorry 
to  say  that  all  my  endeavors  to  induce  my  South- 
ern friends  to  try  their  efficacious  powers  were  of 
no  avail,  so  I  determined  to  take  them  with  me  to 
Nassau  (if  I  could  get  there),  thinking  that  I 
might  find  a  market  at  a  place  where  every  one  was 
bilious  from  over  eating  and  drinking,  on  the 
strength  of  the  fortunes  they  were  making  by 
blockade-running;  and  there  I  found  an  enterpris- 
ing druggist  who  gave  me  two  chests  of  lucifer 
matches  in  exchange  for  my  Cockles,  which  matches 
I  ultimately  sold  in  the  Confederacy  at  a  very  fair 
profit.  My  toothbrushes  being  not  in  the  slight- 
est degree  appreciated  at  Wilmington,  I  sent  them 
to  Richmond,  where  they  were  sold  at  about  seven 
times  their  cost. 

So  ended  my  speculation.  The  vessel's  cargo 
consisted  of  blankets,  shoes,  Manchester  goods  of 
all  sorts,  and  some  mysterious  cases  marked  "  hard- 


124  HOBART  PASHA 

ware,"  about  which  no  one  asked  any  questions, 
but  which  the  military  authorities  took  possession 
of.  This  cargo  was  landed,  and  preparations 
made  for  taking  on  board  THE  paying  article  in 
this  trade,  namely,  cotton. 

I  never  bought  it  in  any  quantity,  but  I  know 
that  the  price  in  the  Southern  States  averaged  from 
twopence  to  threepence  a  pound,  the  price  in  Liver- 
pool at  that  time  being  about  half-a-crown. 

We  were  anxious  to  try  the  luck  of  our  run- 
out before  the  moon  got  powerful,  so  the  cargo  was 
shipped  as  quickly  as  possible.  In  the  first  place, 
the  hold  was  stored  by  expert  stevedores,  the  cot- 
ton-bales being  so  closely  packed  that  a  mouse 
could  hardly  find  room  to  hide  itself  among  them. 
The  hatches  were  put  on,  and  a  tier  of  bales  put 
fore  and  aft  in  every  available  spot  on  the  deck, 
leaving  openings  for  the  approaches  to  the  cabins, 
engine-room,  and  the  men's  forecastle ;  then  another 
somewhat  thinner  tier  on  the  top  of  that,  after 
which  a  few  bales  for  the  captain  and  officers, 
those  uncontrollable  rascals  whom  the  poor  agents 
could  not  manage,  and  the  cargo  was  complete. 
Loaded  in  this  way,  the  vessel  with  only  her  fore- 
mast up,  with  her  bow-funnel,  and  grey-painted 
sides,  looked  more  like  a  huge  bale  of  cotton  with 
a  stick  placed  upright  at  one  end  of  it,  than  any- 
thing else  I  can  think  of.  One  bale  for ,  and 


EXCITING  ADVENTURES  125 

still  one  more  for  (I  never  tell  tales  out  of 

school),  and  all  was  ready. 

We  left  the  quay  at  Wilmington  cheered  by  the 
hurrahs  of  our  brother  blockade-runners,  who  were 
taking  in  and  discharging  their  cargoes,  and 
steamed  a  short  distance  down  the  river,  when  we 
were  boarded  to  be  searched  and  smoked.  This 
latter  extraordinary  proceeding,  called  for  perhaps 
by  the  existing  state  of  affairs,  took  me  altogether 
aback.  That  a  smoking  apparatus  should  be  ap- 
plied to  a  cargo  of  cotton  seemed  almost  astound- 
ing. But  so  it  was  ordered,  the  object  being  to 
search  for  runaways,  and,  strange  to  say,  its  effi- 
cacy was  apparent,  when,  after  an  hour  or  more's 
application  of  the  process  (which  was  by  no  means 
a  gentle  one),  an  unfortunate  wretch,  crushed 
almost  to  death  by  the  closeness  of  his  hiding-place, 
poked  with  a  long  stick  till  his  ribs  must  have 
been  like  touchwood,  and  smoked  the  color  of  a 
backwood  Indian,  was  dragged  by  the  heels  into 
the  daylight,  ignominiously  put  into  irons,  and 
hurled  into  the  guard-boat.  This  discovery  nearly 
caused  the  detention  of  the  vessel  on  suspicion  of 
our  being  the  accomplices  of  the  runaway;  but 
after  some  deliberation,  we  were  allowed  to  go  on. 

Having  steamed  down  the  river  a  distance  of 
about  twenty  miles,  we  anchored  at  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  near  its  mouth.  We  were  hidden  by 


126  HOBART  PASHA 

Fort  Fisher  from  the  blockading  squadron  lying 
off  the  bar,  there  to  remain  till  some  time  after 
nightfall.  After  anchoring  we  went  on  shore  to 
take  a  peep  at  the  enemy  from  the  batteries.  Its 
commandant,  a  fine,  dashing  young  Confederate 
officer,  who  was  a  firm  friend  to  blockade-runners, 
accompanied  us  round  the  fort.  We  counted 
twenty-five  vessels  under  weigh ;  some  of  them  oc- 
casionally ventured  within  range;  but  no  sooner 
had  one  of  them  done  so,  than  a  shot  was  thrown 
so  unpleasantly  near  that  she  at  once  moved  out 
again. 

We  were  much  struck  with  the  weakness  of  Fort 
Fisher,  which,  with  a  garrison  of  twelve  hundred 
men,  and  only  half  finished,  could  have  been  easily 
taken  at  any  time  since  the  war  began  by  a  resolute 
body  of  five  thousand  men  making  a  night  attack. 
It  is  true  that  at  the  time  of  its  capture  it  was 
somewhat  stronger  than  at  the  time  I  visited  it, 
but  even  then  its  garrison  was  comparatively  small, 
and  its  defences  unfinished.  I  fancy  the  bold  front 
so  long  shown  by  its  occupiers  had  much  to  do  with 
the  fact  that  such  an  attack  was  not  attempted 
till  just  before  the  close  of  the  war.  The  time 
chosen  for  our  starting  was  eleven  o'clock,  at  which 
hour  the  tide  was  at  its  highest  on  the  bar  at  the 
entrance  of  the  river.  Fortunately  the  moon  set 
about  ten,  and  as  it  was  very  cloudy,  we  had  every 


EXCITING  ADVENTURES  127 

reason  to  expect  a  pitchdark  night.  There  were 
two  or  three  causes  that  made  one  rather  more 
nervous  on  this  occasion  than  when  leaving  Ber- 
muda. 

In  the  first  place,  five  minutes  after  we  had 
crossed  the  bar,  we  should  be  in  the  thick  of  the1 
blockaders,  who  always  closed  nearer  in  on  the  very 
dark  nights.  Secondly,  our  cargo  of  cotton  was 
of  more  importance  than  the  goods  we  had  carried 
in ;  and  thirdly,  it  was  the  thing  to  do  to  make  the 
double  trip  in  and  out  safely.  There  were  also 
all  manner  of  reports  of  the  new  plans  that  had 
been  arranged  by  a  zealous  commodore  lately  sent 
from  New  York  to  catch  us  all.  However,  it  was 
of  no  use  canvassing  these  questions,  so  at  a  quarter 
to  eleven  we  weighed  anchor  and  steamed  down 
to  the  entrance  of  the  river. 

Very  faint  lights,  which  could  not  be  seen  far 
at  sea,  were  set  on  the  beach  in  the  same  position 
as  I  have  before  described,  having  been  thus  placed 
for  a  vessel  coming  in;  and  bringing  these  astern 
in  an  exact  line,  that  is  the  two  into  one,  we  knew 
that  we  were  in  the  passage  for  going  over  the 
bar.  The  order  was  then  given,  "  Full  speed 
ahead,"  and  we  shot  at  a  great  speed  out  to  sea. 

Our  troubles  began  almost  immediately ;  for  the 
cruisers  had  placed  a  rowing  barge,  which  could 
not  be  seen  by  the  forts,  close  to  the  entrance,  to 


128  HOBART  PASHA 

signalise  the  direction  which  any  vessel  that  came 
out  might  take.  This  was  done  by  rockets  being 
thrown  up  by  a  designed  plan  from  the  barge. 
We  had  hardly  cleared  the  bar  when  we  saw  this 
boat  very  near  our  bows,  nicely  placed  to  be  run 
clean  over,  and  as  we  were  going  about  fourteen 
knots,  her  chance  of  escape  would  have  been  small 
had  we  been  inclined  to  finish  her.  Changing  the 
helm,  which  I  did  myself,  a  couple  of  spokes  just 
took  us  clear.  We  passed  so  close  that  I  could 
have  dropped  a  biscuit  into  the  boat  with  ease. 
I  heard  the  crash  of  broken  oars  against  our 
sides;  not  a  word  was  spoken. 

I  strongly  suspect  every  man  in  that  boat  held 
his  breath  till  the  great  white  avalanche  of  cotton, 
rushing  by  so  unpleasantly  near,  had  passed  quite 
clear  of  her. 

However,  they  seemed  very  soon  to  have  recov- 
ered themselves,  for  a  minute  had  scarcely  passed 
before  up  went  a  rocket,  which  I  thought  a  very 
ungrateful  proceeding  on  their  part.  But  they 
only  did  their  duty,  and  perhaps  they  did  not  know 
how  nearly  they  had  escaped  being  made  food  for 
fishes.  On  the  rocket  being  thrown  up,  a  gun  was 
fired  uncommonly  close  to  us,  but  as  we  did  not 
hear  any  shot,  it  may  have  been  only  a  signal  to 
the  cruisers  to  keep  a  sharp  look-out. 

We  steered  a  mile  or  two  near  the  coast,  always 


EXCITING  ADVENTURES  129 

edging  a  little  to  the  eastward,  and  then  shaped 
our  course  straight  out  to  sea.  Several  guns  were 
fired  in  the  pitch-darkness  very  near  us.  (I  am 
not  quite  sure  whether  some  of  the  blockaders  did 
not  occasionally  pepper  each  other.)  After  an 
hour's  fast  steaming,  we  felt  moderately  safe,  and 
by  the  morning  had  a  good  offing. 

Daylight  broke  with  thick,  hazy  weather,  noth- 
ing being  in  sight.  We  went  on  all  right  till  half- 
past  eight  o'clock,  when  the  weather  cleared  up, 
and  there  was  a  large  paddle-wheel  cruiser  (that 
we  must  have  passed  very  near  to  in  the  thick 
weather)  about  six  miles  astern  of  us.  The  mo- 
ment she  saw  us  she  gave  chase.  After  running 
for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  it  was  evident  that  with 
our  heavy  cargo  on  board,  the  cruiser  had  the  legs 
of  us,  and  as  there  was  a  long  day  before  us  for 
the  chase,  things  looked  badly.  We  moved  some 
cotton  aft  to  immerse  our  screws  well;  but  still 
the  cruiser  was  steadily  decreasing  her  distance 
from  us,  when  an  incident  of  a  very  curious  nature 
favored  us  for  a  time. 

It  is  mentioned  in  the  book  of  sailing  directions, 
that  the  course  of  the  Gulf  Stream  (in  the  vicinity 
of  which  we  knew  we  were)  is  in  calm  weather  and 
smooth  water  plainly  marked  out  by  a  ripple  on  its 
inner  and  outer  edges.  We  clearly  saw,  about  a 
mile  ahead  of  us,  a  remarkable  ripple,  which  we 


130  HOBART  PASHA 

rightly,  as  it  turned  out,  conjectured  was  that 
referred  to  in  the  book.  As  soon  as  we  had 
crossed  it,  we  steered  the  usual  course  of  the  cur- 
rent of  the  Gulf  Stream,  that  here  ran  from  two 
to  three  miles  an  hour.  Seeing  us  alter  our 
course,  the  cruiser  did  the  same;  but  she  had  not 
crossed  the  ripple  on  the  edge  of  the  stream,  and 
the  course  she  was  now  steering  tended  to  keep 
her  for  some  time  from  doing  so.  The  result  soon 
made  it  evident  that  the  observations  in  the  book 
were  correct;  for  until  she  too  crossed  the  ripple 
into  the  stream,  we  dropped  her  rapidly  astern, 
whereby  we  increased  our  distance  ta  at  least  seven 
miles. 

It  was  now  noon,  from  which  time  the  enemy 
again  began  to  close  with  us,  and  at  five  o'clock 
was  not  more  than  three  miles  distant.  At  six 
o'clock  she  opened  a  harmless  fire  with  the  Parrot 
gun  in  her  bow,  the  shot  falling  far  short  of  us. 
The  sun  set  at  a  quarter  to  seven,  by  which  time 
she  had  got  so  near  that  she  managed  to  send  two 
or  three  shots  over  us,  and  was  steadily  coming  up. 

Luckily,  as  night  came  on,  the  weather  became 
very  cloudy,  and  we  were  on  the  dark  side  of  the 
moon,  now  setting  in  the  West,  which  occasionally 
breaking  through  the  clouds  astern  of  the  cruiser, 
showed  us  all  her  movements,  while  we  must  have 
been  very  difficult  to  make  out,  though  certainly 


EXCITING  ADVENTURES  131 

not  more  than  a  mile  off.  All  this  time  she  kept 
firing  away,  thinking,  I  suppose,  that  she  would 
frighten  us  into  stopping.  If  we  had  gone 
straight  on,  we  should  doubtless  have  been  caught ; 
so  we  altered  our  course  two  points  to  the  east- 
ward. After  steaming  a  short  distance  we  stopped 
quite  still,  blowing  off  steam  under  water,  not  a 
spark  or  the  slightest  smoke  showing  from  the  fun- 
nel; and  we  had  the  indescribable  satisfaction  of 
seeing  our  enemy  steam  past  us,  still  firing  ahead 
at  some  imaginary  vessel. 

This  had  been  a  most  exciting  chase  and  a  very 
narrow  escape;  night  only  saved  us  from  a  New 
York  prison.  All  this  hard  running  had  made  an 
awful  hole  in  our  coal-bunkers,  and  as  it  was  neces- 
sary to  keep  a  stock  for  a  run  off  the  blockaded 
Bahama  Islands,  we  were  obliged  to  reduce  our  ex- 
penditure to  as  small  a  quantity  as  possible. 
However  we  were  well  out  to  sea,  and  after  having 
passed  the  line  of  cruisers  between  Wilmington 
and  Bermuda,  we  had  not  much  to  fear  till  we 
approached  the  British  possessions  of  Nassau  and 
the  adjacent  islands,  where  two  or  three  very  fast 
American  vessels  were  cruising,  although  five  hun- 
dred miles  from  American  waters. 

I  am  ignorant,  I  confess,  of  the  laws  of  block- 
ade, or  indeed  if  a  law  there  be  that  allows  its  en- 
forcement, and  penalties  to  be  enacted,  five  hun- 


132  HOBART  PASHA 

dred  miles  away  from  the  ports  blockaded.  But  it 
did  seem  strange  that  the  men-of-war  of  a  nation 
at  peace  with  England  should  be  allowed  to  cruise 
off  her  ports,  to  stop  and  examine  trading  vessels 
of  all  descriptions,  to  capture  and  send  to  New 
York,  for  adjudication,  vessels  on  the  mere  sus- 
picion of  their  being  intended  blockade-runners ; 
and  to  chase  and  fire  into  real  blockade-runners  so 
near  to  the  shore  that  on  one  occasion  the  shot  and 
shell  fell  into  a  fishing  village,  and  that  within 
sight  of  an  English  man-of-war  lying  at  anchor 
in  the  harbor  of  Nassau.  Surely  it  is  time  that 
some  well-understood  laws  should  be  made,  and 
rules  laid  down,  or  such  doings  will  sooner  or  later 
recoil  on  their  authors. 

Having  so  little  coal  on  board,  we  determined 
on  making  for  the  nearest  point  of  the  Bahama 
Islands,  and  luckily  reached  a  queer  little  island 
called  Green  Turtle  Quay,  on  the  extreme  north  of 
the  group,  where  was  a  small  English  colony,  with- 
out being  seen  by  the  cruisers.  We  had  not  been 
there  long,  however,  before  one  of  them  came 
sweeping  round  the  shore,  and  stopped  unpleas- 
antly near  to  us ;  even  though  we  were  inside  the 
rock  she  hovered  about  outside,  not  a  mile  from  us. 

We  were  a  tempting  bait,  but  a  considerable 
risk  to  snap,  and  I  suppose  the  American  captain 
could  not  quite  make  up  his  mind  to  capture  a 


EXCITING  ADVENTURES  133 

vessel  (albeit  a  blockade-runner  piled  full  of  cot- 
ton) lying  in  an  English  port,  insignificant  though 
that  port  might  be.  We  had  got  a  large  white 
English  ensign  hoisted  on  a  pole,  thereby  showing 
the  nationality  of  the  rock,  should  the  cruiser  be 
inclined  to  question  it.  After  many  longing  looks, 
she  steamed  slowly  away,  much  to  our  satisfac- 
tion. Coals  were  sent  to  us  from  Nassau  the  next 
day,  which  having  been  taken  on  board,  we  weighed 
anchor,  keeping  close  to  the  reefs  and  islands  all 
the  way.  We  steamed  towards  that  port,  and  ar- 
rived safely,  having  made  the  in-and-out  voyage, 
including  the  time  in  unloading  and  loading  at 
Wilmington,  in  sixteen  days. 

To  attempt  to  describe  at  length  the  state  of 
things  at  this  usually  tranquil  and  unfrequented 
little  spot  is  beyond  my  powers.  I  will  only  men- 
tion some  of  its  most  striking  features.  Nassau 
differed  much  from  Wilmington,  inasmuch  as  at 
the  latter  place  there  was  a  considerable  amount  of 
poverty  and  distress,  and  men's  minds  were 
weighted  with  many  troubles  and  anxieties; 
whereas,  at  Nassau,  everything  at  the  time  I  speak 
of  was  couleur  de  rose.  Every  one  seemed  pros- 
perous and  happy.  You  met  with  calculating, 
far-seeing  men  who  were  steadily  employed  in 
feathering  their  nests,  let  the  war  in  America  end 
as  it  might ;  others  who,  in  the  height  of  their  en- 


HOBART  PASHA 

thusiasm  for  the  Southern  cause,  put  their  last 
farthing  into  Confederate  securities,  anticipat- 
ing enormous  profits.  Some  men,  careless  and 
thoughtless,  living  for  the  hour,  were  spending 
their  dollars  as  fast  as  they  made  them,  forgetting 
that  they  would  "  never  see  the  like  again." 
There  were  rollicking  captains  and  officers  of 
blockade-runners,  and  drunken  swaggering  crews ; 
sharpers  looking  out  for  victims;  Yankee  spies; 
and  insolent  worthless  free  niggers  —  all  these 
combined  made  a  most  heterogeneous,  though  in- 
teresting, crowd. 

The  inhabitants  of  Nassau,  who,  until  the  period 
of  blockade-running,  had,  with  some  exceptions, 
subsisted  on  a  precarious  and  somewhat  question- 
able livelihood  gained  by  wrecking,  had  their  heads 
as  much  turned  as  the  rest  of  the  world.  Living 
was  exorbitantly  dear,  as  can  be  well  imagined, 
when  the  captain  of  a  blockade-runner  could  realise 
in  a  month  a  sum  as  large  as  the  Governor's 
salary.  The  expense  of  living  was  so  great  that 
the  officers  of  the  West  India  regiment  quartered 
here  had  to  apply  for  special  allowance,  and  I 
believe  their  application  was  successful.  The 
hotel,  a  large  building,  hitherto  a  most  ruinous 
speculation,  began  to  realise  enormous  profits.  In 
fact,  the  almighty  dollar  was  spent  as  freely  as  the 


EXCITING  ADVENTURES  135 

liumble  cent  had  been  before  this  golden  era  in  the 
annals  of  Nassau. 

As  we  had  to  stay  here  till  the  time  for  the 
dark  nights  came  round  again,  we  took  it  easy, 
and  thoroughly  enjoyed  all  the  novelty  of  the 
scene.  Most  liberal  entertainment  was  provided 
free  by  our  owner's  agent,  and  altogether  we  found 
Nassau  very  j  oily :  so  much  so,  that  we  felt  almost 
sorry  when  "  time "  was  called,  and  we  had  to 
prepare  for  another  run.  In  fact,  it  was  pleas- 
anter  in  blockade-running  to  look  backwards  than 
forwards,  especially  if  one  had  been  so  far  in  good 
luck. 


CHAPTER  XH 

A  VISIT  TO  CHARLESTON 

ALL  being  ready,  we  steamed  out  of  Nassau 
harbor,   and  were  soon  again   in  perilous 
waters.     We  had  a  distant  chase  now  and 
then  —  a  mere  child's  play  to  us  after  our  ex- 
perience —  and  on  the  third  evening  of  our  voyage 
we   were   pretty   well   placed    for  making   a   run 
through   the  blockading  squadron  as  soon  as  it 
was  dark.     As  the  moon  rose  at  twelve  o'clock,  it 
was  very  important  that  we  should  get  into  port 
before  she  threw  a  light  upon  the  subject. 

Unfortunately,  we  were  obliged  to  alter  our 
course  or  stop  so  often  to  avoid  cruisers  that  we 
ran  our  time  too  close;  for,  as  we  were  getting 
near  to  the  line  of  blockade,  a  splendid  three- 
quarter-size  moon  rose,  making  everything  as  clear 
as  day.  Trying  to  pass  through  the  line  of 
vessels  ahead  with  such  a  bright  light  shining 
would  have  been  madness;  in  fact,  it  was  danger- 
ous to  be  moving  about  at  all  in  such  clear  weather, 
so  we  steamed  towards  the  land  on  the  extreme 
left  of  the  line  of  cruisers,  and  having  made  it 
out,  went  quite  close  inshore  and  anchored. 
136 


A  VISIT  TO  CHARLESTON          137 

By  lying  as  close  as  we  dared  to  the  beach,  we 
must  have  had  the  appearance  of  forming  part  of 
the  low  sand-hills,  which  were  about  the  height 
and  color  of  the  vessel;  the  wood  on  their  tops 
forming  a  background  which  hid  the  small  amount 
of  funnel  and  mast  that  showed  above  the  decks. 
We  must  have  been  nearly  invisible,  for  we  had 
scarcely  been  an  hour  at  anchor  when  a  gunboat 
came  steaming  along  the  shore  very  near  to  the 
beach;  and  while  we  were  breathlessly  watching 
her,  hoping  that  she  would  go  past,  she  dropped 
anchor  alongside  of  us,  a  little  outside  where  we 
were  lying  —  so  close  that  we  not  only  heard 
every  order  that  was  given  on  board,  but  could 
almost  make  out  the  purport  of  the  ordinary  con- 
versation of  the  people  on  her  decks.  A  pistol 
shot  would  have  easily  reached  us.  Our  position 
was  most  unpleasant,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  We 
could  not  stay  where  we  were,  as  it  only  wanted 
two  hours  to  daybreak.  If  we  had  attempted  to 
weigh  anchor,  we  must  have  been  heard  doing  so. 
However,  we  had  sufficient  steam  at  command  to 
make  a  run  for  it.  So,  after  waiting  a  little  to 
allow  the  cruiser's  fires  to  get  low,  we  knocked  the 
pin  out  of  the  shackle  of  the  chain  on  deck,  and 
easing  the  cable  down  into  the  water,  went  ahead 
with  one  engine  and  astern  with  the  other,  to  turn 
our  vessel  round  head  to  seaward. 


138  HOBART  PASHA 

Imagine  our  consternation  when,  as  she  turned, 
she  struck  the  shore  before  coming  half  round  (she 
had  been  lying  with  her  head  inshore,  so  now  it 
was  pointed  along  the  beach,  luckily  in  the  right 
direction,  i.e.  lying  from  the  cruiser).  There  was 
nothing  left  to  us  but  to  put  on  full  speed,  and 
if  possible  force  her  from  the  obstruction,  which 
after  two  or  three  hard  bumps  we  succeeded  in 
doing. 

After  steaming  quite  close  to  the  beach  for  a 
little  way,  we  stopped  to  watch  the  gunboat, 
which,  after  resting  for  an  hour  or  so,  weighed 
anchor  and  steamed  along  the  beach  in  the  oppo- 
site direction  to  the  way  we  had  been  steering,  and 
was  soon  out  of  sight.  So  we  steamed  a  short 
distance  inshore  and  anchored  again.  It  would 
have  been  certain  capture  to  have  gone  out  to 
sea  just  before  daybreak,  so  we  made  the  little 
craft  as  invisible  as  possible,  and  remained  all  the 
next  day,  trusting  to  our  luck  not  to  be  seen. 
And  our  luck  favored  us ;  for,  although  we  saw 
several  cruisers  at  a  distance,  none  noticed  us, 
which  seems  almost  miraculous. 

Thus  passed  Christmas  Day,  1863,  and  an 
anxious  day  it  was  to  all  of  us.  We  might  have 
landed  our  cargo  where  we  were  lying,  but  it  would 
have  been  landed  in  a  dismal  swamp,  and  we  should 


A  VISIT  TO  CHARLESTON          139 

have  been  obliged  to  go  into  Wilmington  for  our 
cargo  of  cotton. 

When  night  closed  in  we  weighed  anchor  and 
steamed  to  the  entrance  of  the  river,  which,  from 
our  position  being  so  well  defined,  we  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  making  out.  We  received  a  broadside 
from  a  savage  little  gunboat  quite  close  inshore, 
her  shot  passing  over  us,  and  that  was  all.  We 
got  comfortably  to  the  anchorage  about  half-past 
eleven  o'clock,  and  so  ended  our  second  journey 
in. 

I  determined  this  time  to  have  a  look  at  Charles- 
ton, which  was  then  undergoing  a  lengthened  and 
destructive  siege.  So,  after  giving  over  my  craft 
into  the  hands  of  the  owner's  representatives,  who 
would  unload  and  put  her  cargo  of  cotton  on 
board,  I  took  my  place  in  the  train  and,  after  pass- 
ing thirty-six  of  the  most  miserable  hours  in  my 
life  travelling  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  miles,  I  arrived  at  the  capital  of  South 
Carolina,  or  rather  near  to  that  city  —  for  the 
train,  disgusted  I  suppose  with  itself,  ran  quietly 
off  the  line  about  two  miles  from  the  station  into 
a  meadow.  The  passengers  seemed  perfectly  con- 
tented, and  shouldering  their  baggage  walked  off 
into  the  town.  I  mechanically  followed  with  my 
portmanteau,  and  in  due  course  arrived  at  the 


140  HOBART  PASHA 

only  hotel,  where  I  was  informed  I  might  have 
half  a  room. 

Acting  on  a  hint  I  received  from  a  black  waiter 
that  food  was  being  devoured  in  the  coffee-room, 
and  that  if  I  did  not  look  out  for  myself  I  should 
have  to  do  without  that  essential  article  for  the 
rest  of  the  day,  I  hurried  into  the  salle-a-manger, 
where  two  long  tables  were  furnished  with  all  the 
luxuries  then  to  be  obtained  in  Charleston,  which 
luxuries  consisted  of  lumps  of  meat  supposed  to 
be  beef,  boiled  Indian  corn,  and  I  think  there  were 
the  remains  of  a  feathered  biped  or  two,  to  partake 
of  which  I  was  evidently  too  late.  All  these 
washed  down  with  water,  or  coffee  without  sugar, 
were  not  very  tempting;  but  human  nature  must 
be  supported,  so  to  it  I  set.  .  .  . 

Having  letters  of  introduction  to  some  of  Gen- 
eral Beauregard's  staff,  I  made  my  way  to  head- 
quarters, where  I  met  with  the  greatest  courtesy 
and  kindness.  An  orderly  was  sent  with  me  to 
show  me  the  top  of  the  tower,  a  position  that  com- 
manded a  famous  view  of  the  besieging  army,  the 
blockading  squadron,  and  all  the  defences  of  the 
place.  A  battery  had  just  been  placed  by  the 
enemy  (consisting  of  five  Parrot  guns  of  heavy 
calibre)  five  miles  from  the  town,  and  that  day 
had  opened  fire  for  the  first  time.  At  that  enor- 
mous range  the  shell  occasionally  burst  over  or 


A  VISIT  TO  CHARLESTON          141 

fell  into  the  city,  doing,  however,  little  damage. 
The  elevation  of  the  guns  must  have  been  un- 
usually great.  I  am  told  that  every  one  of  them 
burst  after  a  week's,  or  thereabouts,  firing.  Poor 
Fort  Sumter  was  nearly  silenced  after  many 
months'  hammering,  but  its  brave  defenders  re- 
mained in  it  to  the  last,  and  it  was  not  till  a  few 
days  before  Charleston  was  abandoned  that  they 
gave  it  up.  At  the  time  I  speak  of  the  whole  of 
the  western  beach  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
Battery  Wagner  having  succumbed  after  one  of 
the  most  gallant  defences  on  record.  While  it  re- 
mained in  the  hands  of  the  Southerners  it  assisted 
Fort  Sumter,  inasmuch  as  from  its  position  it  kept 
the  enemy  at  a  distance,  but  after  its  capture,  or 
rather  destruction,  the  latter  fort  was  exposed  to 
a  tremendous  fire  from  ships  and  batteries,  and  its 
solid  front  was  terribly  crumbled. 

Surrounded,  however,  with  water  as  it  was,  it 
would  have  been  most  difficult  to  take  by  assault ; 
and  from  what  I  could  learn,  certain  destruction 
would  have  met  any  body  of  men  who  had  at- 
tempted it  latterly.  There  it  stood,  sulkily  firing 
a  shot  or  shell  now  and  then,  more  out  of  defiance 
than  anything  else.  The  blockading,  or  rather 
bombarding,  squadron  was  lying  pretty  near  to  it 
on  the  western  side  of  the  entrance  to  the  harbor ; 
but  on  the  east  side,  formidable  batteries  belong- 


HOB  ART  PASHA 

ing  to  the  Southerners  kept  them  at  a  respectable 
distance.  Blockade-running  into  Charleston  was 
quite  at  an  end  at  the  time  I  am  writing  about. 
Not  that  I  think  the  cruisers  could  have  kept 
vessels  from  getting  in,  but  for  the  reason  that  the 
harbor  was  a  perfect  network  of  torpedoes  and 
infernal  machines  (the  passage  through  which  was 
only  known  to  a  few  persons),  placed  by  the 
Southerners  to  prevent  the  Northern  fleet  from 
approaching  the  city. 

Having  had  a  good  look  at  the  positions  of  the 
attacking  and  defending  parties,  I  went  down  from 
the  tower  and  paid  a  visit  to  a  battery  where  two 
Blakely  guns  of  heavy  calibre,  that  had  lately  been 
run  through  the  blockade  in  the  well-known  Sum- 
ter  (now  the  Gibraltar),  were  mounted.  These 
guns  threw  a  shot  of  720  Ibs.  weight,  and  were 
certainly  masterpieces  of  design  and  execution. 
Unhappily,  proper  instructions  for  loading  had 
not  accompanied  them  from  England,  and  on  the 
occasion  of  the  first  round  being  fired  from  one 
of  them,  the  gun  not  being  properly  loaded, 
cracked  at  the  breech,  and  was  rendered  useless; 
the  other,  however,  did  good  service,  throwing  shot 
with  accuracy  at  great  distances.  I  saw  much 
that  was  interesting  here,  but  more  able  pens  than 
mine  have  already  described  fully  the  details  of 
that  long  siege,  where  on  one  hand  all  modern  ap- 


A  VISIT  TO  CHARLESTON 

pliances  of  war  that  ingenuity  could  conceive  or 
money  purchase  were  put  into  the  hands  of  brave 
and  determined  soldiers;  on  the  other  hand  were 
bad  arms,  bad  powder,  bad  provisions,  bad  every- 
thing; desperate  courage  and  unheard-of  self- 
denial  being  all  the  Southerners  had  to  depend 
upon. 

These  poor  Southerners  never  began  to  open 
their  eyes  to  the  hopelessness  of  their  cause  till 
Sherman's  almost  unopposed  march  showed  the 
weakness  of  the  whole  country.  Even  strangers 
like  myself  were  so  carried  away  with  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  moment,  that  we  shut  our  eyes  to  what 
should  have  been  clearly  manifest  to  us.  We  could 
not  believe  that  men  who  were  fighting  and  endur- 
ing as  these  men  were  could  ever  be  beaten.  Some 
of  their  leaders  must  have  foreseen  that  the  catas- 
trophe was  coming  months  before  it  occurred; 
but,  if  they  did  so,  they  were  afraid  to  make  their 
opinion  public. 

On  returning  to  the  hotel,  I  found  it  full  of 
people  of  all  classes  indulging  in  tobacco  (the  only 
solace  left  them)  in  every  form.  It  is  all  very 
well  to  say  that  smoking  is  a  vile  habit ;  so  it  may 
be,  when  indulged  in  by  luxurious  fellows  who  eat 
and  drink  their  full  every  day,  and  are  rarely  with- 
out a  cigar  or  pipe  in  their  mouths ;  it  may,  per- 
haps, be  justly  said  that  such  men  abuse  the  use 


144  HOBART  PASHA 

of  the  glorious  narcotic  supplied  by  Providence 
for  men's  consolation  under  difficulties.  But  when 
a  man  has  hard  mental  and  bodily  work,  and  barely 
enough  food  to  support  nature,  water  being  his 
only  drink,  then  give  him  tobacco,  and  he  will 
thoroughly  appreciate  it.  Besides,  it  will  do  him 
real  good.  I  think  that  at  any  time  its  use  in 
moderation  is  harmless  and  often  beneficial,  but 
under  the  circumstances  I  speak  of,  it  is  a  luxury 
without  price. 

During  the  evening  I  met  at  the  hotel  a  Con- 
federate naval  officer  who  was  going  to  attempt 
that  night  to  carry  havoc  among  the  blockading 
squadron  by  means  of  a  cigar-shaped  vessel  of  a 
very  curious  description. 

This  vessel  was  a  screw  steamer  of  sixty  feet  in 
length,  with  eight  feet  beam.  She  lay,  before  be- 
ing prepared  for  the  important  service  on  which 
she  was  going,  with  about  two  feet  of  her  hull 
showing  above  the  water,  at  each  end  of  which,  on 
the  shoulder  as  it  were  of  the  cigar,  was  a  small 
hatch  or  opening,  just  large  enough  to  allow  a 
man  to  pop  through  it:  from  her  bows  projected 
a  long  iron  outrigger,  at  the  end  of  which  there 
was  fixed  a  torpedo  that  would  explode  on  coming 
into  contact  with  a  vessel's  side. 

When  the  crew  were  on  board,  and  had  gone 
down  into  the  vessel  through  one  of  the  hatches 


A  VISIT  TO  CHARLESTON          145 

above  mentioned,  the  said  hatches  were  firmly 
closed,  and  by  arrangements  that  were  made  from 
the  inside  the  vessel  was  sunk  about  six  inches  be- 
low the  water,  leaving  merely  a  small  portion  of 
the  funnel  showing.  Steam  and  smoke  being  got 
rid  of  below  water,  the  vessel  was  invisible,  torpedo 
and  all  being  immersed. 

The  officer  having  thus  described  his  vessel, 
wished  me  good-night,  and  started  on  his  perilous 
enterprise.  I  met  him  again  next  evening  quietly 
smoking  his  pipe.  I  eagerly  asked  him  what  he 
had  done,  when  he  told  me  with  the  greatest  sang- 
froid that  he  had  gone  on  board  his  vessel  with  a 
crew  of  seven  men ;  that  everything  for  a  time  had 
gone  like  clockwork ;  they  were  all  snug  below  with 
hatches  closed,  the  vessel  was  sunk  to  the  required 
depth,  and  was  steadily  steaming  down  the  harbor, 
apparently  perfectly  water-tight,  when  suddenly 
the  sea  broke  through  the  foremost  hatch  and  she 
went  to  the  bottom  immediately.  He  said  he  did 
not  know  how  he  escaped.  He  imagined  that  after 
the  vessel  had  filled  he  had  managed  to  escape 
through  the  aperture  by  which  the  water  got  in; 
all  the  rest  of  the  poor  fellows  were  drowned. 
Not  that  my  friend  seemed  to  think  anything  of 
that,  for  human  life  was  very  little  thought  of  in 
those  times.  This  vessel  was  afterwards  got  up, 
when  the  bodies  of  her  crew  were  still  in  her  hold. 


146  HOBART  PASHA 

I  imagined  that  the  vessel  contained  sufficient  air 
to  enable  her  to  remain  under  water  two  or  three 
hours,  or  maybe  some  method  was  practised  by 
which  air  could  be  introduced  by  the  funnel;  at 
all  events,  had  she  been  successful  on  that  night, 
she  would  undoubtedly  have  caused  a  good  deal 
of  damage  and  loss  to  the  blockading  squadron, 
who  were  constantly  harassed  by  all  sorts  of  in- 
fernal machines,  torpedoes,  fire-vessels,  &c.,  which 
were  sent  out  against  them  by  ingenious  Souther- 
ners, whose  fertile  imaginations  were  constantly 
conceiving  some  new  invention. 

On 'the  next  occasion  that  same  officer  was  em- 
ployed on  a  similar  enterprise,  his  efforts  were 
crowned  with  complete  success. 

He  started  one  dark  night,  in  a  submerged 
vessel  of  the  same  kind  as  that  above  described, 
and  exploded  the  torpedo  against  the  bows  of  one 
of  the  blockading  squadron,  doing  so  much  damage 
that  the  vessel  had  to  be  run  on  shore  to  prevent 
her  sinking. 

I  must,  before  finishing  my  account  of  what  I 
saw  and  did  in  Charleston,  mention  a  circumstance 
that  showed  how  little  the  laws  of  meum  and  tuum 
are  respected  during  war  times.  The  morning  be- 
fore I  left,  I  had  a  fancy  for  having  my  coat 
brushed  and  my  shoes  polished.  So  having  de- 
posited these  articles  on  a  chair  at  the  door  of  my 


A  VISIT  TO  CHARLESTON          147 

room,  I  went  to  bed  again  to  have  another  snooze, 
hoping  to  find  them  cleaned  when  I  awoke.  After 
an  hour  or  so  I  got  up  to  dress,  and  rang  the  bell 
several  times  without  getting  any  answer.  So  I 
opened  the  door  and  looked  out  into  the  passage. 
To  my  surprise  I  saw  an  individual  sitting  on  the 
chair  on  which  I  had  put  my  clothes,  trying  on 
one  of  my  boots.  He  had  succeeded  in  getting 
it  half  on  when  it  had  stuck,  and  at  the  time  I 
discovered  him  he  seemed  to  be  in  a  fix,  inasmuch 
as  he  could  neither  get  the  boot  off  nor  on.  He 
was  struggling  violently  with  my  poor  boot,  as 
if  it  were  his  personal  enemy,  and  swearing  like  a 
trooper.  Not  wishing  to  increase  his  ire,  I 
blandly  insinuated  that  the  boots  were  mine,  on 
which  he  turned  his  wrath  towards  me,  making 
most  unpleasant  remarks,  which  he  wound  up  by 
saying  that  in  these  times  anything  that  a  man 
could  pick  up  lying  about  was  his  lawful  property, 
and  that  he  was  astonished  at  my  impudence  in 
asking  for  the  boots.  However,  as  the  darned 
things  would  not  fit  him  "  nohow,"  he  guessed  I 
was  welcome  to  them ;  and  giving  a  vicious  tug  to 
the  boot  to  get  it  off,  he  succeeded  in  doing  so, 
and  I,  picking  it  up  with  its  fellow,  made  good  my 
retreat.  But  where  was  my  coat?  I  could  not 
get  an  echo  of  an  answer,  where  ?  So  I  went  down- 
stairs and  told  my  piteous  tale  to  the  landlord, 


148  HOBART  PASHA 

who  laughed  at  my  troubles,  and  told  me  he  could 
not  give  me  the  slightest  hopes  of  ever  seeing  it 
again;  but  he  offered  to  lend  me  a  garment  in 
which  to  travel  to  Wilmington,  which  offer  I  gladly 
accepted. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

NEVER  CAUGHT! 

ON  my  return  to  Wilmington  I  found  that 
my  vessel  was  ready  for  sea,  so  I  took 
charge  of  her,  and  we  went  down  the  river. 
We  had  to  undergo  the  same  ordeal  as  before 
in  the  way  of  being  smoked  and  searched.  This 
time  there  were  no  runaways  discovered,  but  there 
was  one  on  board  for  all  that,  who  made  his  ap- 
pearance, almost  squashed  to  death,  after  we  had 
been  twenty-four  hours  at  sea.  We  then  anchored 
under  Fort  Fisher,  where  we  waited  until  it  was 
dark,  after  which,  when  the  tide  was  high  enough 
on  the  bar,  we  made  a  move  and  were  soon  rushing 
out  to  sea  at  full  speed.  There  was  a  considerable 
swell  running,  which  we  always  considered  a  point 
in  our  favor.  By  the  way,  writing  of  swells  puts 
me  in  mind  of  a  certain  "  swell "  I  had  on  board 
as  passenger  on  this  occasion,  who,  while  in  Wil- 
mington, had  been  talking  very  big  about  "  hunt- 
ing," which  probably  he  supposed  I  knew  nothing 
about.  He  used  to  give  us  long  narratives  of  his 
own  exploits  in  the  hunting-field,  and  expatiated 
149 


150  HOBART  PASHA 

on  the  excitement  of  flying  over  ditches  and  hedges, 
while  apparently  he  looked  upon  blockade-running 
and  its  petty  risks  with  sublime  contempt.  Soon 
after  we  crossed  the  bar  on  our  way  out  a  gentle 
breeze  and  swell  began  to  lift  the  vessel  up  and 
down,  and  this  motion  he  described  as  "  very  like 
hunting." 

Just  after  he  had  ventured  this  remark,  a 
Yankee  gunboat  favored  us  with  a  broadside  and 
made  a  dash  to  cut  us  off.  This  part  of  the  fun, 
however,  my  friend  did  not  seem  to  think  at  all 
"  like  hunting,"  and  after  having  strongly  urged 
me  to  return  to  the  anchorage  under  the  protect- 
ing guns  of  the  fort,  he  disappeared  below,  and 
never  talked,  to  me  at  least,  about  hunting  again. 

But  to  return  to  my  story,  there  was,  as  I  said 
before,  a  considerable  swell  running  outside,  which 
was  fortunate  for  us,  as  we  ran  almost  into  a  gun- 
boat lying  watching  unusually  close  to  the  bar. 
It  would  have  been  useless  to  turn  round  and  en- 
deavor to  escape  by  going  back,  as,  if  we  had  done 
so,  we  should  inevitably'  have  been  driven  on  to 
the  beach,  and  either  captured  or  destroyed.  In 
such  a  predicament  there  was  nothing  for  it  but 
to  make  a  dash  past  and  take  the  gunboat's  fire 
and  its  consequences.  I  knew  we  had  the  legs  of 
her,  and  therefore  felt  more  at  ease  in  thus  run- 
ning the  gauntlet  than  I  otherwise  should  have 


NEVER  CAUGHT!  151 

done,  so  on  we  went  at  full  speed.  She  fired  her 
broadside  at  about  fifty  yards  distance,  but  the 
shot  all  passed  over  us,  except  one  that  went 
through  our  funnel.  The  marines  on  board  of  her 
kept  up  a  heavy  fire  of  musketry  as  long  as  we 
were  visible,  but  only  slightly  wounded  one  of  our 
men.  Rockets  were  then  thrown  up  as  signals  to 
her  consorts,  two  of  which  came  down  on  us,  but 
luckily  made  a  bad  guess  at  our  position,  and 
closed  with  us  on  our  quarter  instead  of  our  bow. 
They  also  opened  fire,  but  did  us  no  injury.  At 
the  moment  there  was  no  vessel  in  sight  ahead ; 
and  as  we  were  going  at  a  splendid  pace,  we  soon 
reduced  our  dangerous  companions  to  three  or 
four  shadowy  forms  struggling  astern  without  a 
hope  of  catching  us.  The  signaling  and  firing 
had,  however,  brought  several  other  blockaders 
down  to  dispute  our  passage,  and  we  found  our- 
selves at  one  moment  with  a  cruiser  on  each  side 
within  a  pistol  shot  of  us ;  our  position  being  that 
of  the  meat  in  a  sandwich.  So  near  were  the 
cruisers,  that  they  seemed  afraid  to  fire,  from  the 
danger  of  hitting  each  other,  and,  thanks  to  our 
superior  speed,  we  shot  ahead  and  left  them  with- 
out their  having  fired  a  shot. 

Considering  the  heavy  swell  that  was  running, 
there  was  the  merest  chance  of  their  hitting  us; 
in  fact,  to  take  a  blockade-runner  in  the  night, 


152  HOBART  PASHA 

when  there  was  a  heavy  swell  or  wind,  if  she  did 
not  choose  to  give  in,  was  next  to  impossible.  To 
run  her  down  required  the  cruiser  to  have  much 
superior  speed,  and  was  a  dangerous  game  to  play, 
for  vessels  have  been  known  to  go  down  themselves 
while  acting  that  part. 

Then,  again,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
blockade-runner  had  always  full  speed  at  command, 
her  steam  being  at  all  times  well  up  and  every  one 
on  board  on  the  look-out ;  whereas  the  man-of-war 
must  be  steaming  with  some  degree  of  economy  and 
ease,  and  her  look-out  men  had  not  the  excitement 
to  keep  them  always  on  the  qui  vive  that  we  had. 

I  consider  that  the  only  chances  the  blockading 
squadron  had  of  capturing  a  blockade-runner 
were  in  the  following  instances ;  viz.,  in  a  fair 
chase  in  daylight,  when  superior  speed  would  tell, 
or  chasing  her  on  shore,  or  driving  her  in  so  near 
the  beach  that  her  crew  were  driven  to  set  fire 
to  her  and  make  their  escape ;  in  which  case  a  prize 
might  be  made,  though  perhaps  of  no  great  value ; 
or  frightening  a  vessel  by  guns  and  rockets  during 
the  night  into  giving  up.  Some  of  the  blockade- 
runners  showed  great  pluck,  and  stood  a  lot  of 
pitching  into.  About  sixty-six  vessels  left  Eng- 
land and  New  York  to  run  the  blockade  during 
the  four  years'  war,  of  which  more  than  forty  were 
destroyed  by  their  own  crews  or  captured;  but 


NEVER  CAUGHT!  153 

most  of  them  made  several  runs  before  they  came 
to  grief,  and  in  so  doing  paid  well  for  their  owners. 

I  once  left  Bermuda,  shortly  before  the  end  of 
the  war,  in  company  with  four  others,  and  was  the 
only  fortunate  vessel  of  the  lot.  Of  the  other 
four,  three  were  run  on  shore  and  destroyed  by 
their  own  crews,  and  one  was  fairly  run  down  at 
sea  and  captured. 

I  saw  an  extraordinarily  plucky  thing  done  on 
one  occasion,  which  I  cannot  refrain  from  narrat- 
ing. We  had  made  a  successful  run  through  the 
blockade,  and  were  lying  under  Fort  Fisher,  when 
as  daylight  broke  we  heard  a  heavy  firing,  and  as 
it  got  lighter  we  saw  a  blockade-runner  sur- 
rounded by  the  cruisers.  Her  case  seemed  hope- 
less, but  on  she  came  for  the  entrance,  hunted  like 
a  rabbit  by  no  end  of  vessels.  The  guns  of  the 
fort  were  at  once  manned,  ready  to  protect  her  as 
soon  as  her  pursuers  should  come  within  range. 
Every  effort  was  made  to  cut  her  off  from  the 
entrance  of  the  river,  and  how  it  was  she  was  not 
sunk  I  cannot  tell.  As  she  came  on  we  could  see 
N —  — ,  her  commander,  a  well-known  successful 
blockade-runner,  standing  on  her  paddle-box  with 
his  hat  off,  as  if  paying  proper  respect  to  the 
men-of-war.  And  now  the  fort  opened  fire  at  the 
chasing  cruisers,  from  whom  the  blockade-runner 
was  crawling,  being  by  this  time  well  inshore.  One 


154  HOB  ART  PASHA 

vessel  was  evidently  struck,  as  she  dropped  out  of 

range  very  suddenly.  On  came  the  Old  J , 

one  of  the  fastest  boats  in  the  trade,  and  anchored 
all  right ;  two  or  three  shots  in  her  hull,  but  not 
hurt.  Didn't  we  cheer  her !  The  reason  of  her  be- 
ing in  the  position  in  which  we  saw  her  at  day- 
light was  that  she  had  run  the  time  rather  short, 
and  daylight  broke  before  she  could  get  into  the 
river;  so  that,  instead  of  being  there,  she  was  in 
the  very  centre  of  the  blockading  fleet.  Many 

men  would  have  given  in,  but  old  N was  made 

of  different  stuff. 

We  got  well  clear  of  the  cruisers  before  day- 
break, and  keeping  far  out  to  sea,  were  unmolested 
during  the  run  to  Nassau,  where  we  arrived  safely 
with  our  second  cargo  of  cotton,  having  this  time 
been  eighteen  days  making  the  round  trip. 

Having  made  two  round  trips,  we  could  afford 
to  take  it  easy  for  a  short  time,  and  as  the  dark 
nights  would  not  come  on  for  three  weeks,  we  gave 
the  little  craft  a  thorough  refit,  hauling  her  up  on 
a  patent  slip  that  an  adventurous  American  had 
laid  down  especially  for  blockade-runners,  and  for 
the  use  of  which  we  had  to  pay  a  price  which  would 
have  astonished  some  of  our  large  ship-owners. 
I  'may  mention  that  blockade-runners  always  lived 
well ;  maybe  acting  on  the  principle  that  "  good 
people  are  scarce  "  ;  so  we  kept  a  famous  table. 


NEVER  CAUGHT!  155 

An  English  man-of-war  was  lying  in  the  harbor, 
whose  officers  frequently  condescended  to  visit  us, 
and  whose  mouths  watered  at  what  they  saw  and 
heard  of  the  profits  and  pleasures  of  blockade- 
running.  Indeed,  putting  on  one  side  the  sordid 
motives  which  I  dare  say  to  a  certain  extent 
actuated  us,  there  was  a  thrilling  and  glorious  ex- 
citement about  the  work,  which  would  have  well 
suited  some  of  these  gay  young  fellows. 

Time  again  came  round  too  soon,  and  we  had  to 
start  on  another  trip,  and  to  tear  ourselves  away 
from  all  sorts  of  amusements,  some  of  us  from 
domestic  ties:  for  there  were  instances  of  anxious 
wives  who,  having  followed  their  husbands  to  the 
West  Indies,  vastly  enjoyed  all  the  novelty  of 
the  scene.*  These  ladies  had  their  pet  ships,  in 
whose  captains  they  had  confidence,  and  in  which 
they  sent  private  ventures  into  the  Confederacy ; 
and  in  this  way  some  of  them  made  a  nice  little 
addition  to  their  pin-money.  I  don't  know  that 
any  of  them  speculated  in  Cockle's  pills  or 
corsages,  but  I  heard  of  one  lady  who  sent  in  a 
large  quantity  of  yellow  soap,  and  made  an  enor- 
mous profit  out  of  her  venture. 

Having  completed  the  necessary  alterations  and 
repairs,  and  made  all  snug  for  a  fresh  run,  we 

s 

*  Mrs.  Hobart,  whom  he  had  married  in  1848,  was  one  of 
them.  (Ed.) 


156  HOBART  PASHA 

started  again  from  the  port  of  Nassau.  We  had 
scarcely  steamed  along  the  coast  forty  miles  from 
the  mouth  of  the  harbor,  when  we  discovered  a 
steamer  bearing  down  on  us,  and  we  soon  made 
her  out  to  be  a  well-known,  very  fast  Yankee 
cruiser,  of  whom  we  were  all  terribly  afraid.  As 
we  were  still  in  British  waters,  skirting  the  shore 
of  the  Bahamas,  I  determined  not  to  change  my 
course,  but  kept  steadily  on,  always  within  a  mile 
of  the  shore.  On  the  man-of-war  firing  a  shot 
across  our  bows  as  a  signal  for  us  to  heave  to,  I 
hoisted  the  English  colors  and  anchored.  An 
American  officer  came  on  board,  who,  seeing  un- 
mistakable proofs  of  the  occupation  we  were  en- 
gaged in,  seemed  very  much  inclined  to  make  a 
prize  of  us;  but  on  my  informing  him  that  I 
claimed  exemption  from  capture  on  the  ground  of 
the  vessel  being  in  British  waters,  he,  after  due 
consideration,  sulkily  wished  me  good  morning  and 
went  back  to  his  ship.  She  continued  to  watch 
us  till  the  middle  of  the  night,  when  I  imagine 
something  else  attracted  her  attention,  and  she 
steamed  away.  We,  taking  advantage  of  her 
temporary  absence,  weighed  our  anchor  and  were 
soon  far  out  at  sea. 

At  the  end  of  three  days  we  had  run  into  a 
position  about  sixty  miles  from  Wilmington  with- 


NEVER  CAUGHT!  157 

out  any  incident  happening  worth  mentioning. 
On  our  nearing  the  blockading  squadron  at  night- 
fall we  heard  a  great  deal  of  firing  going  on  in- 
shore, which  we  conjectured  (rightly  as  it  after- 
wards appeared)  was  caused  by  the  American 
ships,  who  were  chasing  and  severely  handling  a 
blockade-runner.  An  idea  at  once  struck  me, 
which  I  quickly  put  into  execution.  We  steamed 
in  as  fast  as  we  could,  and  soon  made  out  a  vessel 
ahead  that  was  hurrying  in  to  help  her  consorts 
to  capture  or  destroy  the  contraband.  We  kept 
close  astern  of  her,  and  in  this  position  followed 
the  cruiser  several  miles.  She  made  signals  con- 
tinually by  flashing  different  colored  lights  rapidly 
from  the  paddle-boxes,  the  meaning  of  which  I 
tried  my  best  to  make  out,  so  that  I  might  be  able 
to  avail  myself  of  the  knowledge  of  the  blockade 
signals  at  some  future  time ;  but  I  could  not  man- 
age to  make  head  or  tail  of  them. 

Suddenly  the  firing  ceased,  and  our  pioneer 
turned  out  to  sea  again.  As  we  were  by  this  time 
very  near  inshore,  we  stopped  the  engines  and  re- 
mained quite  still,  but  unluckily  could  not  make 
out  our  exact  position. 

The  blockading  cruisers  were  evidently  very 
close  in,  so  we  did  not  like  moving  about ;  besides, 
the  pilot  was  confident  that  we  were  close  enough 


158  HOBART  PASHA 

to  the  entrance  of  the  river  to  enable  us  to  run  in 
when  day  broke,  without  being  in  any  danger  from 
the  enemy. 

Thus  for  the  remainder  of  the  night  we  lay  quite 
close  to  the  beach.  Unfortunately,  however,  about 
an  hour  before  daylight  we  struck  the  shore,  and 
all  our  efforts  to  free  the  vessel  were  of  no  avail. 

As  the  day  dawned  we  found  that  we  were  about 
a  mile  from  Fort  Fisher,  and  that  two  of  the 
American  vessels  nearest  the  shore  were  about  a 
mile  from  us  when  we  first  made  them  out,  and 
were  steaming  to  seaward,  having  probably  been 
lying  pretty  near  to  the  river's  mouth  during  the 
darkness  of  the  night.  They  were  not  slow  to 
make  us  out  in  our  unhappy  position.  I  ordered 
the  boats  to  be  lowered,  and  gave  every  one  on 
board  the  option  of  leaving  the  vessel,  as  it  seemed 
evident  that  we  were  doomed  to  be  a  bone  of  con- 
tention between  the  fort  and  the  blockaders.  All 
hands,  however,  stuck  to  the  ship,  and  we  set  to 
work  to  lighten  her  as  much  as  possible.  Steam 
being  got  up  to  the  highest  pressure,  the  engines 
worked  famously,  but  she  would  not  move,  and  I 
feared  the  sand  would  get  into  the  bilges.  And 
now  a  confounded  vessel  deliberately  tried  the 
range  with  her  Parrot  gun,  and  the  shot  splashed 
alongside  of  us.  Her  fire,  however,  was  promptly 
replied  to  by  Fort  Fisher.  The  shot  from  the 


NEVER  CAUGHT!  159 

fort's  heavy  artillery  passed  right  over  and  close 
to  the  cruiser,  and  made  her  move  further  out,  and 
thus  spoiled  the  accuracy  of  the  range  of  our  de- 
voted little  craft,  which  the  man-of-war  had  so 
correctly  obtained.  We  made  a  frantic  effort  to 
get  off  our  sandy  bed,  and  on  all  hands  running 
from  one  extremity  of  the  vessel  to  the  other,  to 
our  delight  she  slipped  off  into  deep  water. 

But  our  troubles  were  not  yet  over.  To  get 
into  the  river's  mouth  it  was  necessary  to  make  a 
detour,  to  do  which  we  had  to  steer  out  towards 
the  blockading  fleet  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile  before 
we  could  turn  to  go  into  the  river.  While  we  were 
performing  this  somewhat  ticklish  manoeuvre,  Fort 
Fisher  most  kindly  opened  a  heavy  fire  from  all  its 
guns,  and  thus  drew  the  attention  of  the  blockad- 
ers  from  us.  In  twenty  minutes  from  the  time 
we  got  off  we  were  safely  at  anchor  under  the  Con- 
federate batteries.  The  vessel  that  had  been  so 
hard  chased  and  fired  at  during  the  night  was 
lying  safely  at  the  anchorage,  not  very  much 
damaged. 

This  was  by  far  the  most  anxious  time  we  had 
gone  through.  We  had  to  thank  the  command- 
ant and  garrison  of  Fort  Fisher  for  our  escape. 
Having  paid  our  gallant  rescuers  a  visit,  we  took 
a  pilot  on  board  and  steamed  up  to  Wilmington. 
Cape  Clear  river  at  this  time  was  full  of  all  sorts 


160  HOBART  PASHA 

of  torpedoes  and  obstructions,  put  down  to  prevent 
any  gunboats  from  approaching  the  town  of  Wil- 
mington, should  the  forts  at  its  entrance  be  taken 
possession  of  by  the  enemy.  And  as  the  where- 
abouts of  these  obstructions  were  only  known  to 
certain  pilots,  we  had  to  be  careful  to  have  the 
right  man  on  board.  We  got  up  in  safety,  and 
finding  that  our  cargo  of  cotton  was  ready,  made 
haste  to  unload  and  prepare  for  sea  again  as 
quickly  as  possible. 

There  was  nothing  interesting  in  Wilmington, 
which  is  a  large  straggling  town  built  on  sand- 
hills. At  the  time  I  write  of  the  respectable  in- 
habitants were  nearly  all  away  from  their  homes, 
and  the  town  was  full  of  adventurers  of  all  de- 
scriptions; some  who  came  to  sell  cotton,  others 
to  buy  at  enormous  prices  European  goods  brought 
in  by  blockade-runners.  These  goods  they  took 
with  them  into  the  interior,  and,  adding  a  heavy 
percentage  to  the  price,  people  who  were  forced  to 
buy  them  paid  most  ruinous  prices  for  the  com- 
monest necessaries  of  life. 

On  this  occasion  we  spent  a  very  short  time  at 
Wilmington,  and  having  taken  our  cargo  of  cot- 
ton, we  went  down  the  river  to  the  old  waiting 
place  under  the  friendly  batteries  of  Fort  Fisher. 
We  had  scarcely  anchored  when  a  heavy  fog  came 
on.  As  the  tide  for  going  over  the  bar  did  not  suit 


NEVER  CAUGHT!  161 

till  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  which  I  consid- 
ered an  awkward  time,  inasmuch  as  we  should  only 
have  two  hours  of  darkness  left  in  which  to  get 
our  offing  from  the  land,  I  determined  to  go  out  in 
the  fog  and  take  my  chance  of  the  thick  weather 
lasting.  I  calculated  that  if  we  had  met  with  any 
cruisers,  they  would  not  have  been  expecting  us, 
and  so  would  have  been  under  low  steam. 

I  was  told  by  every  one  that  I  was  mad  to 
venture  out,  and  all  sorts  of  prognostications  were 
made  that  I  should  come  to  grief,  in  spite  of  which 
omens  of  disaster,  however,  I  went  over  the  bar  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  in  a  fog,  through 
which  I  could  hardly  see  from  one  end  of  the  ship 
to  the  other,  and  took  my  chance.  As  we  went  on 
the  fog  seemed  to  get  if  possible  still  thicker,  and 
through  the  night  it  was  impossible  for  us  to  see 
anything  or  anything  to  see  us. 

In  the  morning  we  had  an  offing  of  at  least  a 
hundred  and  twenty  miles,  and  nothing  was  in 
sight.  We  made  a  most  prosperous  voyage,  and 
arrived  at  Nassau  safely  in  seventy-two  hours, 
thus  completing  our  third  round  trip. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

LAST   DAYS    ON    THE    "  D N  " 

AS  no  vessel  had  succeeded  since  the  block- 
ade was  established  in  getting  into  Savan- 
nah   (a    large    and    flourishing    town    in 
Georgia,  situated  a  few  miles  up  a  navigable  river 
of  the   same   name),  where   there   was   a   famous 
market  for  all  sorts  of  goods,  and  where  plenty  of 
the  finest  sea-island  cotton  was  stored  ready  for 
embarkation,  and  as  the  southern  port  pilots  were 
of  opinion  that  all  that  was  required  to  ensure 
success  was  an  effort  to  obtain  it,  I  undertook  to 

try  if  we  could  manage  to  get  the  D n  in. 

The  principal  difficulty  we  had  to  contend  with 
was  that  the  Northerners  had  possession  of  a  large 
fortification  called  Pulaski,  which,  being  situated 
at  the  entrance  of  the  river,  commanded  the  pas- 
sage up  to  the  town. 

To  pass  this  place  in  the  night  seemed  easy 
work  enough,  as  it  would  be  hard  for  the  sentry  to 
make  a  vessel  out  disguised  as  we  were;  but  to 
avoid  the  shoals  and  sand-banks  at  the  river's 
mouth,  in  a  pitch-dark  night,  seemed  to  me,  after 
162 


LAST  DAYS  ON  THE  "  D N"      163 

carefully  studying  the  chart,  to  be  a  most  difficult 
matter.  This,  however,  was  the  pilot's  business ; 
all  we  captains  had  to  do  was  to  avoid  dangers 
from  the  guns  of  ships  and  forts ;  or,  if  we  could 
not  avoid  them,  to  stand  being  fired  at. 

The  pilot  we  had  engaged  was  full  of  confidence ; 
so  much  so,  that  he  refused  to  have  any  payment 
for  his  services  until  he  had  taken  us  in  and  out 
safely.  I  may  as  well  mention  that  there  were  few 
if  any  blockading  vessels  off  Savannah  river,  the 
Northerners  having  perfect  confidence,  I  presume, 
in  Fort  Pulaski  and  the  shoals  which  surrounded 
the  entrance  of  the  river  being  sufficient  to  prevent 
any  attempt  at  blockade-running  succeeding. 
The  lights  in  the  ship  off  Port  Royal,  a  small 
harbor  in  the  hands  of  the  Northern  Government, 
a  few  miles  from  the  entrance  to  Savannah,  were 
as  bright  as  in  the  time  of  peace,  and  served  as  a 
capital  guide  to  the  river's  mouth.  After  two 
days'  run  from  Nassau  we  arrived  without  ac- 
cident to  within  twenty  miles  of  the  low  land 
through  which  the  Savannah  river  runs,  and  at 
dark  steered  for  the  light-vessel  lying  off  Port 
Royal.  Having  made  it  out,  in  fact  steaming 
close  up  to  it,  we  shaped  our  course  for  Fort 
Pulaski,  using  the  light  as  a  point  of  departure, 
the  distance  by  the  chart  being  twelve  miles.  We 
soon  saw  its  outlines  looming  through  the  darkness 


164  HOBART  PASHA 

ahead,  and  formidable  though  it  looked,  it  caused 
me  no  anxiety,  compared  with  the  danger  we 
seemed  to  be  in  from  the  shoal  water  and  breakers 
being  all  around  us.  However,  the  pilot  who  had 
charge  of  such  matters  seemed  comfortable  enough. 

So  we  went  cautiously  along,  and  in  ten  minutes 
would  have  been  past  danger,  at  all  events  from 
the  batteries  on  the  fort,  when  one  of  the  severest 
storms  I  ever  remember  of,  wind  and  rain,  accom- 
panied by  thunder  and  lightning,  came  on,  and 
enveloped  us  in  a  most  impenetrable  darkness. 
Knowing  that  we  were  surrounded  by  most  danger- 
ous shoals,  and  being  then  in  only  fifteen  feet  of 
water,  I  felt  our  position  to  be  a  very  perilous 
one.  The  pilot  had  by  this  time  pretty  well  lost 
his  head ;  in  fact,  it  would  have  puzzled  any  one  to 
say  where  we  were.  So  we  turned  round  and 
steered  out  to  sea  again,  by  the  same  way  we  had 
come  in ;  and  when  we  were  as  near  as  we  could 
guess  twenty  miles  from  land,  we  let  go  our  anchor 
in  fifteen  fathoms  of  water. 

Then  came  on  a  heavy  gale  of  wind  accompanied 
by  a  thick  fog,  which  lasted  three  days  and  nights. 
I  never  in  my  life  passed  such  an  unpleasant  time ; 
rolling  our  gunnels  under,  knowing  that  we  were 
drifting,  our  anchor  having  dragged,  but  in  what 
direction  it  was  difficult  to  judge;  unable  to  cook, 
through  the  sea  we  had  shipped  having  put  our 


galley-fire  out ;  and,  worse  than  all,  burning  quan- 
tities of  coal,  as  we  had  to  keep  steam  always  well 
up,  ready  for  anything  that  might  happen. 

One  day  it  cleared  up  for  half  an  hour  about 
noon,  and  we  managed  to  get  meridian  observa- 
tions, which  showed  us  that  we  had  drifted  thirty 
miles  of  latitude,  but  we  still  remained  in  ignorance 
of  our  longitude.  On  the  fourth  day  the  gale 
moderated,  the  weather  cleared  up,  and  we  ascer- 
tained our  position  correctly  by  observations. 

When  it  was  dark  we  steered  for  the  light-vessel 
off  Port  Royal,  meaning,  as  before,  to  make  her 
our  point  of  departure  for  the  entrance  of  the 
river.  But  we  went  on  and  on,  and  we  could  not 
see  the  glimmer  of  a  light  or  even  anything  of  a 
vessel  (we  found  out  afterwards  that  the  light- 
ship had  been  blown  from  her  moorings  in  the 
gale).  This  was  a  nice  mess.  The  pilot  told  us 
that  to  attempt  to  run  for  the  entrance  without 
having  the  bearings  of  the  light  to  guide  us  would 
have  been  perfect  madness.  We  had  barely  enough 
coal  to  take  us  back  to  Nassau,  and  if  we  had 
remained  dodging  about,  waiting  for  the  light- 
vessel  to  be  replaced,  we  should  have  been  'worse 
off  for  fuel,  of  which  we  had  so  little  that  if  we 
had  been  chased  on  our  way  back  we  should  cer- 
tainly have  been  captured. 

So  we  started  for  Nassau,  keeping  well  inshore 


166  HOBART  PASHA 

on  the  Georgia  and  Florida  coast.  Along  this 
coast  there  were  many  small  creeks  and  rivers 
where  blockade-running  in  small  craft,  and  even 
boats,  was  constantly  carried  on,  and  where  the 
Northerners  had  stationed  several  brigs  and 
schooners  of  war,  who  did  the  best  they  could  to 
stop  the  traffic.  Many  an  open  boat  has  run  over 
from  the  northernmost  island  of  the  Bahamas 
group,  a  distance  of  fifty  miles,  and  returned  with 
one  or  two  bales  of  cotton,  by  which  her  crew  were 
well  remunerated. 

We  had  little  to  fear  from  sailing  men-of-war, 
as  the  weather  was  calm  and  fine,  so  we  steamed 
a  few  miles  from  the  shore,  all  day  passing  several 
of  them,  just  out  of  range  of  their  guns.  One 
vessel  tried  the  effect  of  a  long  shot,  but  we  could 
afford  to  laugh  at  her. 

The  last  night  we  spent  at  sea  was  rather  nerv- 
ous work.  We  had  reduced  our  coals  to  about 
three  quarters  of  a  ton,  and  had  to  cross  the  Gulf 
Stream  at  the  narrow  part  between  the  Florida 
coast  and  the  Bahamas,  a  distance  of  twenty-eight 
miles,  where  the  force  of  the  current  is  four  knots 
an  hour.  Our  coals  were  soon  finished.  We  cut 
up  the  available  spars,  oars,  &c.,  burnt  a  hemp 
cable  (that  by  the  way  made  a  capital  blaze),  and 
just  managed  to  fetch  across  to  the  extreme  west- 


LAST  DAYS  ON  THE  "  D N  "      167 

era  end  of  the  group  of  islands  belonging  to  Great 
Britain,  where  we  anchored. 

We  couldn't  have  steamed  three  miles  further. 
On  the  wild  spot  where  we  anchored  there  was  for- 
tunately a  small  heap  of  anthracite  coal,  that 
probably  had  been  part  of  the  cargo  of  some 
wreck,  of  which  we  took  as  much  as  would  carry 
us  to  Nassau,  and  arrived  there  safely.  Thus  the 
attempt  to  get  into  Savannah  was  a  failure.  It 
was  tried  once  afterwards  by  a  steamer  which  man- 
aged to  get  well  past  the  fort,  but  which  stuck  on 
a  sand-bank  shortly  after  doing  so,  and  was  cap- 
tured in  the  morning. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  inflict  on  my  readers 
any  more  anecdotes  of  my  own  doings  in  the 

D n;  suffice  it  to  say  that  I  had  the  good 

luck  to  make  six  round  trips  in  her,  in  and  out  of 
Wilmington,  and  that  I  gave  her  over  to  the  chief 
officer  and  went  home  to  England  with  my  spoils. 
On  arriving  at  Southampton,  the  first  thing  I  saw 
in  the  Times  was  a  paragraph  headed,  "  The 

Capture  of  the  D n."  Poor  little  craft!  I 

learned  afterwards  how  she  was  taken,  which  I 
will  relate,  and  which  will  show  that  she  died  game. 

The  officer  to  whom  I  gave  over  charge  *  was 
as  fine  a  specimen  of  a  seaman  as  well  can  be  im- 
*  His  first  officer  on  the  Don.  (Ed.) 


168  HOBART  PASHA 

agined,  plucky,  cool,  and  determined,  and  by  the 
way  he  was  a  bit  of  a  medico,  as  well  as  a  sailor ; 
for  by  his  beneficial  treatment  of  his  patients  we 
had  very  few  complaints  of  sickness  on  board. 
As  our  small  dispensary  was  close  to  my  cabin, 
I  used  to  hear  the  conversation  that  took  place 

between  C and  his  patients.  I  will  repeat 

one. 

C.  "  Well,  my  man,  what's  the  matter  with 
you?" 

Patient.  "  Please,  sir,  I've  got  pains  all  over 
me." 

C.     "  Oh,  all  over  you,  are  tney ;  that's  bad." 

Then,  during  the  pause,  it  was  evident  some- 
thing was  being  mixed  up,  and  I  could  hear  C 

say :  "  Here,  take  this,  and  come  again  in  the 

evening."  (Exit  patient.)  Then  C said  to 

himself :  "  I  don't  think  he'll  come  again ;  he  has 
got  two  drops  of  the  croton.  Skulking  rascal, 
pains  all  over  him,  eh !  "  I  never  heard  the  voice 
of  that  patient  again ;  in  fact,  after  a  short  time 
we  had  no  cases  of  sickness  on  board.  C ex- 
plained to  me  that  the  only  medicine  he  served  out, 
as  he  called  it,  was  croton  oil;  and  that  none  of 
the  crew  came  twice  for  treatment. 

Never  having  run  through  the  blockade  as  the 
commander  of  a  vessel  (though  he  was  with  me  all 
the  time  and  had  as  much  to  do  with  our  luck  as 


LAST  DAYS  ON  THE  " 

I  had),  he  was  naturally  very  anxious  to  get  safely 
through.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  vessel 
had  lost  much  of  her  speed,  for  she  had  been  very 
hardly  pushed  on  several  occasions.  This  told 
sadly  against  her,  as  the  result  will  show.  On  the 
third  afternoon  after  leaving  Nassau  she  was  in 
a  good  position  for  attempting  the  run  when  night 
came  on.  She  was  moving  stealthily  about  wait- 
ing for  the  evening,  when  suddenly,  on  the  weather, 
which  had  been  hitherto  thick  and  hazy,  clearing 
up,  she  saw  a  cruiser  unpleasantly  near  to  her, 
which  bore  down  under  steam  and  sail,  and  it  soon 

became  probable  that  the  poor  little  D n's 

twin  screws  would  not  save  her  this  time,  well  and 
often  as  they  had  done  so  before. 

The  cruiser,  a  large  full-rigged  corvette,  was 
coming  up  hand  over  hand,  carrying  a  strong 
breeze,  and  the  days  of  the  D n  seemed  num- 
bered, when  C tried  a  ruse  worthy  of  any  of 

the  heroes  of  naval  history. 

The  wind,  as  I  said,  was  very  fresh,  with  a  good 
deal  of  sea  running.  On  came  the  cruiser  till  the 

D n  was  almost  under  her  bows,  and  shortened 

sail  in  fine  style.  The  moment  the  men  were  in  the 

rigging,  going  aloft  to  furl  the  sails,  C put 

his  plan  into  execution.  He  turned  his  craft  head 
to  wind,  and  steamed  deliberately  past  the  corvette 
at  not  fifty  yards'  distance.  She,  with  great  way 


170  HOBART  PASHA 

on,  went  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  before  she 
could  turn. 

I  have  it  from  good  authority  that  the  order 
was  not  given  to  the  marines  on  the  man-of-war's 
poop  to  fire  at  the  plucky  little  craft  who  had  so 
fairly  out-manoeuvred  the  cruiser,  for  out-manoeu- 
vred she  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes.  The 
two  or  three  guns  that  had  been  cast  loose  during 
the  chase  had  been  partially  secured,  and  left  so 
while  the  men  had  gone  aloft  to  furl  the  sails,  so 
that  not  a  shot  was  fired  as  she  went  past.  Shortly 
after  she  had  done  so,  however,  the  cruiser  opened 
fire  with  her  bow  guns,  but  with  the  sea  that  was 
running  it  could  do  no  harm,  being  without  any 

top  weights.  The  D <n  easily  dropped  the 

corvette  with  her  heavy  spars  astern,  and  was  soon 
far  ahead;  so  much  so  that  when  night  came  on 
the  cruiser  was  shut  out  of  sight  in  the  darkness. 

After  this  the  D n  deserved  to  escape,  but 

it  was  otherwise  fated.  The  next  morning  when 
day  broke  she  was  within  three  miles  of  one  of  the 
new  fast  vessels,  which  had  come  out  on  her  trial 
trip,  flying  light,  alas!  She  had  an  opportunity 
of  trying  her  speed  advantageously  to  herself. 

She  snapped  up  the  poor  D n  in  no  time,  and 

took  her  into  the  nearest  port.  I  may  mention 

that  the  D n  and  her  captain  were  well  known 

and  much  sought  after  by  the  American  cruisers. 


LAST  DAYS  ON  THE  "  D N  "      171 

The  first  remark  that  the  officer  made  on  coming 
aboard  her  was :  "  Well,  Captain  Roberts,  so  we 
have  caught  you  at  last ! "  and  he  seemed  much 
disappointed  when  he  was  told  that  the  captain 
they  so  particularly  wanted  went  home  in  the  last 
mail.  The  corvette  which  had  chased  and  been 

cheated  by  the  D n  the  day  before  was  lying 

in  the  port  into  which  she  was  taken.  Her  cap- 
tain, when  he  saw  the  prize,  said :  "  I  must  go  on 
board  and  shake  hands  with  the  gallant  fellow  who 
commands  that  vessel ! "  and  he  did  so,  warmly 

complimenting  C on  the  courage  he  had  shown, 

thus  proving  that  he  could  appreciate  pluck,  and 
that  American  naval  men  did  not  look  down  on 
blockade-running  as  a  grievous  sin,  hard  work  as 
it  gave  them  in  trying  to  put  a  stop  to  it.  They 
were  sometimes  a  little  severe  on  men  who,  after 
having  been  fairly  caught  in  a  chase  at  sea,  wan- 
tonly destroyed  their  compasses,  chronometers, 
&c.,  rather  than  let  them  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  cruiser's  officers.  I  must  say  that  I  was 
always  prepared,  had  I  been  caught,  to  have  made 
the  best  of  things,  to  have  given  the  officers  who 
came  to  take  possession  all  that  they  had  fairly 
gained  by  luck  having  declared  on  their  side,  and 
to  have  had  a  farewell  glass  of  champagne  with 
the  new  tenant  at  the  late  owner's  expense. 

The  treatment  received  by  persons  captured  en- 


173  HOBART  PASHA 

gaged  in  running  the  blockade  differed  very  ma- 
terially. If  a  bond  fide  American  man-of-war  of 
the  old  school  made  the  capture,  they  were  always 
treated  with  kindness  by  their  captors.  But  there 
were  among  the  officers  of  vessels  picked  up  hur- 
riedly and  employed  by  the  Government  a  very 
rough  lot,  who  rejoiced  in  making  their  prisoners 
as  uncomfortable  as  possible.  They  seemed  to 
have  only  one  good  quality,  and  this  was  that 
there  were  among  them  many  good  freemasons, 
and  frequently  a  prisoner  found  the  advantage  of 
having  been  initiated  into  the  brotherhood. 

The  D n's  crew  fell  into  very  good  hands, 

and  till  they  arrived  at  New  York  were  comfort- 
able enough;  but  the  short  time  they  spent  in 
prison  there,  while  the  vessel  was  undergoing  the 
mockery  of  a  trial  in  the  Admiralty  Court,  was  far 
from  pleasant.  However,  it  did  not  last  very  long 
—  not  more  than  ten  days ;  and  as  soon  as  they 
were  free  most  of  them  went  back  to  Nassau  or 

Bermuda  ready  for  more  work.     C came  to 

England  and  told  me  all  his  troubles.  Poor  fel- 
low! I  am  afraid  his  services  were  not  half  ap- 
preciated as  they  ought  to  have  been,  for  success, 
in  blockade-running  as  in  everything  else,  is  a  vir- 
tue, whereas  bad  luck,  even  though  accompanied 
with  the  pluck  of  a  hero,  is  always  more  or  less  a 
crime,  not  to  be  forgiven. 


CHAPTER  XV 

RICHMOND    DURING    THE    SIEGE 

AFTER  the  excitement  of  the  last  six  or 
eight  months  I  could  not  long  rest  in  Eng- 
land, satisfied  with  the  newspaper  accounts 
of  the  goings  on  in  the  blockade-running  world. 
So  I  got  the  command  of  a  new  and  very  fast 
paddle-wheel  vessel,  and  went  out  again.  The 
American  Government  had  determined  to  do  every- 
thing in  its  power  to  stop  blockade-running,  and 
had  lately  increased  the  force  of  blockaders  on  the 
southern  coast  by  some  very  fast  vessels  built  at 
New  York.  Being  aware  of  this,  some  of  the  first 
shipbuilders  in  England  and  Scotland  were  put, 
by  persons  engaged  in  blockade-running,  on  their 
mettle,  to  try  and  build  steamers  to  beat  them,  and 
latterly  it  became  almost  a  question  of  speed,  es- 
pecially in  the  daylight  adventures,  between  block- 
aders and  blockade-runners. 

Some  of  the  vessels  on  this  side  of  the  water 

were  constructed  regardless  of  any  good  quality 

but  speed,  consequently  their  scantling  was  light, 

and  their  seagoing  qualities  very  inferior.     Many 

173 


174  HOBART  PASHA 

of  them  came  to  grief;  two  or  three  swamped  at 
sea ;  others,  after  being  out  a  few  days,  struggled 
back  into  Queenstown,  the  lamest  of  lame  ducks; 
while  some  got  out  as  far  as  Nassau  quite  unfit 
for  any  further  work. 

My  vessel  was  one  of  the  four  built  by  R — 

and    G of   Glasgow,    and   was    just    strong 

enough  to  stand  the  heavy  cross  sea  in  the  Gulf 
Stream.  She  was  wonderfully  fast,  and,  taking 
her  all  in  all,  was  a  success.  On  one  occasion  I 
had  a  fair  race  in  the  open  day  with  one  of  the 
best  of  the  new  vessels  that  the  American  Govern- 
ment had  sent  out  to  beat  creation  wherever  she 
could  meet  it,  and  I  fairly  ran  away  from  her. 

On  arriving  at  Wilmington  in  my  new  vessel  I 
started  to  have  a  look  at  Richmond,  which  city 
was  then  besieged  on  its  southern  and  eastern  sides 
by  General  Grant,  who,  however,  was  held  in  check 
by  Lee  at  Petersburg,  a  small  town  situated  in 
an  important  position  about  eighteen  miles  from 
the  capital.  To  get  to  Richmond  was  not  easily 
accomplished  without  making  a  long  detour  into 
the  interior  (for  which  we  had  no  time),  for  the 
outposts  of  the  contending  armies  disputed  pos- 
session of  the  last  forty  miles  of  the  railroad  be- 
tween Wilmington  and  Petersburg,  the  latter  town 
being  on  the  line  to  Richmond.  As  telegraphic 
communication  was  stopped,  it  was  a  difficult  mat- 


RICHMOND  DURING  THE  SIEGE      175 

ter  to  ascertain,  day  by  day,  whether  a  train  could 
pass  safely. 

We  had  in  our  party  the  young  General  Custis 
Lee,  a  nephew  of  the  Confederate  commander-in- 
chief,  on  his  way  to  his  uncle's  headquarters,  who 
kindly  offered  his  assistance  in  getting  us  through. 
When  we  arrived  at  a  station  some  forty  miles 
from  Richmond  we  found,  as  we  feared  would  be 
the  case,  our  further  progress  by  rail  impractic- 
able, but  we  got  hold  of  a  couple  of  wagons  drawn 
by  mules,  into  which  we  managed  to  stow  ourselves 
and  baggage.  We  travelled  through  all  sorts  of 
by-lanes,  bumped  almost  to  pieces  for  four  miles, 
steering  in  the  direction  of  the  headquarters  of 
the  cavalry  outposts,  which  were  commanded  by 
a  celebrated  raiding  officer,  also  a  nephew  of  the 
commander-in-chief.  At  last  we  found  ourselves 
in  a  beautiful  green  valley  surrounded  by  thick 
woods,  where  the  general  and  his  staff  were  quar- 
tered. He  had  with  him  two  or  three  thousand 
cavalry,  who,  in  spite  of  their  bad  clothing  and 
somewhat  hungry  appearance,  were  as  fine-looking 
a  body  of  men  as  one  would  wish  to  see. 

The  general  and  his  staff  gave  us  a  hearty 
welcome.  Poor  fellows,  it  was  all  they  had  to 
offer !  We  on  our  part  produced  sundry  cases  of 
sardines,  Bologna  sausages,  and  other  tempting 
condiments  wherewith  to  make  a  feast. 


176  HOBART  PASHA 

All  these  good  things  were  duly  appreciated, 
not  only  by  our  new  friends,  who  for  months  past 
had  tasted  nothing  but  coarse  rye-bread  and  pork 
washed  down  with  water,  but  also  by  well-shaken 
travellers  like  ourselves.  Lying  on  the  grass  in 
that  lovely  spot,  it  seemed  as  if  the  war  and  all  its 
horrors  were  for  the  moment  forgotten.  There 
were  several  Englishmen  among  the  officers  com- 
posing the  staff,  who  had  (they  said)  come  out 
here  to  see  active  service,  which  they  unquestion- 
ably had  found  to  their  hearts'  content.  They 
seemed  the  sort  of  men  who  would  do  credit  to  their 
country.  I  often  wonder  what  has  become  of 
them ;  in  one  of  them  I  was  particularly  interested. 
He  said  his  name  was  Cavendish,  but  it  may  have 
been  a  nom  de  guerre. 

While  we  were  in  the  camp  a  picket  came  in, 
whose  officer  reported  having  had  a  skirmish  with 
the  enemy,  in  which  the  Northerners  had  been 
whipped.  The  way  the  cavalry  outposts  engaged 
with  each  other  was  curious  enough.  The  ground 
they  met  on  did  not  admit  of  cavalry  charges  be- 
ing made,  as  thick  underwood  covered  the  country 
for  miles  round.  So,  when  they  were  inclined  for 
a  brush,  they  dismounted,  tied  their  horses  to  trees, 
and  skirmished  in  very  open  lines,  every  man  pick- 
ing out  his  special  enemy.  When  the}'  had  had 
enough  of  it,  they  picked  up  their  killed  and 


RICHMOND  DURING  THE  SIEGE      177 

wounded,  and,  mounting  their  horses,  rode  away. 

After  passing  four  or  five  hours  with  our  cavalry 
friends  we  bade  them  good-bye,  and  started  (still 
accompanied  by  our  valuable  companion,  the 
young  general)  on  our  way  to  the  headquarters 
of  the  army,  where  we  were  to  pass  the  night.  It 
was  well  for  us  that  we  travelled  in  such  good  com- 
pany, for  having  to  pass  all  along  the  outskirts 
of  the  Southern  army,  we  were  constantly  stopped 
and  interrogated  by  patrols  and  pickets.  Besides 
which  we  were  sometimes  disagreeably  near  to  the 
outposts  of  the  "  boys  in  blue,"  as  Grant's  men 
were  called. 

Having  arrived  very  late  in  the  evening  at  our 
destination,  we  bivouacked  under  the  trees  close 
to  the  headquarters  of  the  general  commanding, 
who  was  away  at  the  front,  and  not  expected  back 
till  the  next  evening.  The  rattle  of  musketry  and 
the  boom  of  heavy  guns  all  through  the  night  re- 
minded us  of  our  vicinity  to  the  theatre  of  war, 
and  somewhat  disturbed  our  rest.  But  if  we  were 
a  little  nervous,  we  took  care  not  to  show  it.  In 
the  morning  we  started  in  our  wagons,  and,  after 
travelling  a  few  miles  across  the  country,  came  to 
the  railway  that  connected  the  camp  with  Rich- 
mond. A  train  shortly  afterwards  picked  us  up 
and  landed  us  at  the  capital  of  Virginia,  where 
we  took  up  our  quarters  at  a  comfortable-looking 


178  HOBART  PASHA 

hotel.  There  was  more  to  drink  and  eat  here  than 
at  Charleston,  consequently  people  had  cheerful 
countenances.  .  .  .  Here  we  found  that  the  people 
had  that  wonderful  blind  confidence  in  the  Southern 
cause  which  had  mainly  supported  them  through 
all  difficulties. 

At  this  moment,  though  a  line  of  earthworks 
hurriedly  thrown  up  in  a  few  hours  at  Petersburg 
was  nearly  all  that  kept  Grant's  well-organised 
army  from  entering  the  capital ;  though  the  neces- 
saries of  war,  and  even  of  life,  were  growing  alarm- 
ingly short;  though  the  soldiers  were  badly  fed, 
and  only  half-clothed  or  protected  from  the  in- 
clemency of  the  weather  (one  blanket  being  all  that 
was  allowed  to  three  men),  still  every  one  seemed 
satisfied  that  the  South  would  somehow  or  other 
gain  the  day,  and  become  an  independent  nation. 

While  in  Richmond  I  had  the  pleasure  of  mak- 
ing the  acquaintance  of  the  talented  correspondent 
of  the  Times,  who,  although  in  a  position  to 
look  on  calmly  at  passing  events,  was  so  carried 
away  by  his  admiration  of  the  wonderful  pluck 
shown  by  the  Southerners,  and  by  the  general  en- 
thusiasm of  the  people  among  whom  he  lived,  that 
he  allowed  himself  to  be  buoyed  up  with  the  hope 
that  something  would  eventually  turn  up  in  their 
favor,  and  in  his  letters  never  seemed  to  despair. 
Had  he  done  otherwise  he  would  have  stood  alone, 


RICHMOND  DURING  THE  SIEGE      179 

so  he  swam  with  the  tide;  whereas  all  of  us,  es- 
pecially those  who  were  mere  lookers-on,  should 
have  seen  the  end  coming  months  before  we  were 
obliged  to  open  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  it  was 
come.  Through  his  acquaintance  with  the  big- 
wigs, we  managed  to  get  a  few  of  them  to  accept 
an  invitation  to  a  feed,  as  we  could  offer  luxuries 
such  as  could  not  be  found  in  Richmond. 

Some  of  the  first  men  in  the  Confederacy  hon- 
ored us  with  their  company,  and  made  themselves 
uncommonly  agreeable,  seeming  quite  a  jolly  set  of 
fellows.  I  fear  that  they  have  nearly  all  come  to 
grief  since  then,  except  Mr.  Benjamin,  the  Minis- 
ter of  Foreign  Affairs,  who  before  his  death,  which 
occurred  several  years  after  the  time  that  I  write,* 
made  himself  a  name  in  England  worthy  of  his 
high  talents  and  education. 

I  had  the  honor,  while  in  Richmond,  of  being 
invited  to  a  tea  party  by  Mrs.  Davis,  the  Presi- 
dent's wife,  which  I  thought  very  interesting. 
The  ladies  were  all  dressed  in  deep  mourning ;  some 
(the  greater  part)  for  the  sad  reason  that  they 
had  lost  near  and  dear  relatives  in  the  wretched 
war;  the  others,  I  suppose,  were  in  mourning  for 
their  country's  misfortunes.  Mrs.  Davis  moved 
about  the  room  saying  something  civil  to  every 
one,  while  the  President,  though  a  stern-looking 
*This  was  penned  in  1867.  (Ed.) 


180  HOBART  PASHA 

man  who  never  smiled,  tried  to  make  himself  agree- 
able to  his  guests,  and  gave  one  the  idea  of  a  thor- 
ough gentleman.  I  saw  there  military  officers  who 
had  lately  come  from  the  front,  surrounded  by 
groups  of  people  anxious  for  news ;  delegates  from 
distant  seceding  States;  messengers  from  Hood's 
army,  about  which  many  were  beginning  to  be  anx- 
ious ;  sympathising  foreigners,  government  offi- 
cials, and  many  others.  The  whole  of  the  con- 
versation naturally  related  to  the  prospects  of  the 
cause,  and  no  one  would  have  guessed  from  what 
he  heard  in  President  Davis's  house  that  the  end 
was  so  near. 

I  was  anxious  before  my  return  to  see  something 
of  the  army  that  had  so  long  defended  Richmond. 
So  I  only  remained  a  few  days  at  the  capital,  after 
which  I  left  it  and  its,  alas !  too  confiding  inhabit- 
ants, and  made  my  way  as  best  I  could  to  the 
headquarters  of  the  commander-in-chief.  There  I 
presented  my  letters  of  introduction  to  General 
Lee. 

It  would  perhaps  be  impertinence  on  my  part 
to  attempt  to  eulogise  the  character  of  this  excel- 
lent man  and  good  soldier,  who,  most  thoroughly 
believing  in  the  justice  of  the  Southern  cause,  had 
sacrificed  everything  he  possessed  in  its  behalf,  and 
had  thrown  all  his  energy  and  talent  into  the  scale 
in  its  favor.  Many  who  knew  him  well  have  done 


RICHMOND  DURING  THE  SIEGE      181 

and  will  continue  to  do  justice  to  his  patriotism 
and  self-denial.  I  had  a  very  long  conversation 
with  him,  which  I  wish  I  could  repeat  without  being 
guilty  of  a  breach  of  confidence,  as  evidence  of  the 
sensible  notions  he  had  formed  of  the  state  of  af- 
fairs in  the  South.  He  was  the  only  man  I  met 
during  my  travels  who  took  a  somewhat  gloomy 
view  of  the  military  prospects  of  the  country  —  of 
which,  as  a  soldier,  there  could  be  no  better  judge. 
After  spending  twenty-four  hours  in  the  camp, 
we  went  to  the  railway  station  to  see  if  we  could 
get  places  for  Wilmington.  We  found  that  the 
line  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Southerners,  and  that 
although  the  *'  boys  in  blue  "  had  a  vulgar  habit 
of  firing  into  the  carriages  as  they  passed,  the 
trains  were  running  each  night.  But  a  train  run- 
ning and  a  non-combatant  passenger  getting  a 
place  in  a  carriage  were  widely  different  things, 
every  available  seat  being  taken  up  by  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers.  I  made  a  frantic  effort  to  get 
into  the  train  somehow,  and  after  a  severe  struggle 
succeeded  in  scrambling  into  a  sort  of  horse-box 
and  sat  me  down  on  a  long  deal  box,  which  seemed 
rather  a  comfortable  place  to  sleep  on.  It  was 
pitch  dark  when  I  got  into  the  train,  and  we  were 
obliged  to  keep  in  the  dark  until  we  had  run  the 
gauntlet  of  the  Northern  pickets,  who  favored  us 
with  a  volley  or  two  at  a  long  range  from  the 


182  HOBART  PASHA 

hills  overlooking  the  railway.  When  we  were 
clear  of  them  I  lighted  a  match,  and  to  ray  horror 
found  that  I  was  comfortably  lounging  on  a  coffin. 
I  wished  I  had  not  thrown  a  light  on  the  subject, 
but  by  degrees,  becoming  accustomed  I  suppose 
to  my  position,  I  sank  into  a  comfortable  sleep 
and  was  really  quite  sorry  when,  on  arriving  at 
some  station  just  before  daylight,  people  came  to 
remove  my  peculiar  though  far  from  uncomfort- 
able couch.  I  felt  its  loss  the  more,  for  in  its  place 
they  put  a  poor  fellow  wounded  nearly  to  death, 
whose  moans  and  cries  were,  beyond  anything,  dis- 
tressing. We  were  a  long  time  getting  to  Wil- 
mington, as  it  was  necessary  to  stop  and  repair 
most  of  the  bridges  on  the  line  before  the  train 
could  venture  over  them,  an  operation  at  which 
all  passengers  sound  in  wind  and  limb  had  to  as- 
sist. 

On  arriving  there  we  found  all  the  world  in  a 
state  of  great  excitement,  on  account  of  there  hav- 
ing been  a  terrible  fire  among  the  cotton  lying  on 
the  quays  ready  for  embarkation,  supposed  to  have 
been  the  work  of  an  incendiary. 

The  recollections  of  my  last  proceedings  in  the 
blockade-running  are  far  from  pleasant,  and  I 
shall  pass  them  over  as  briefly  as  possible. 

When  we  had  only  the  American  Government 


RICHMOND  DURING  THE  SIEGE      183 

cruisers  to  fear,  we  enjoyed  the  excitement  in  the 
same  way  as  a  man  enjoys  fox-hunting  (only,  by 
the  way,  we  were  the  fox  instead  of  the  huntsmen), 
but  when  dire  disease,  in  the  worst  form  that  Yel- 
low Jack  could  take,  stalked  in  amongst  us,  and 
reduced  our  numbers  almost  hourly,  things  be- 
came too  serious  to  be  pleasant. 

However,  before  the  fever  showed  itself  we  made 
one  successful  round  trip  in  the  new  vessel  (in 
and  out)  in  capital  form,  having  some  exciting 
chases  and  little  adventures,  all  very  similar  to 
what  I  have  described  before,  the  vessel  doing 
credit  to  her  designers  on  all  occasions.  We 
landed  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty  bales 
of  cotton  at  Bermuda,  and  it  was  after  we  had 
started  from  Wilmington  on  our  second  trip  that 
the  horrid  yellow  fever  broke  out  among  us.  I 
believe  that  every  precaution  was  taken  by  the 
Government  of  the  island  to  prevent  the  disease 
from  spreading,  but  increased  by  the  drunken- 
ness, dissipation,  and  dirty  habits  of  the  crews  of 
the  blockade-runners,  and  the  wretchedly  bad 
drainage  of  the  town  of  St.  George,  it  had  lately 
broken  out  with  great  violence,  and  had  spread 
like  wildfire,  both  on  the  shore  and  among  the  ship- 
ping. It  must  have  been  brought  on  board  our 
ship  by  some  of  the  men,  who  had  been  spending 


184  HOBART  PASHA 

much  time  on  shore;  we  had  not  been  twenty-four 
hours  at  sea  before  the  fever  had  got  deadly  hold 
on  our  crew. 

We  went  to  Halifax,  where  we  landed  our  sick 
and  inhaled  some  purer  air ;  but  it  was  of  no  avail. 
The  fever  was  in  the  vessel  and  we  could  not  shake 
it  off.  The  poor  fellows  as  soon  as  we  were  out 
at  sea  again  began  to  drop  off.  I  never  can  for- 
get an  incident  of  that  voyage,  which,  as  it  could 
only  have  happened  during  blockade-running 
times,  I  will  mention,  melancholy  though  it  was. 
Two  men  died  in  the  middle  watch  one  night,  when 
we  were  in  very  dangerous  waters.  Their  bodies 
were  wrapped  in  rough  shrouds,  ready  to  be  com- 
mitted to  the  deep  when  daylight  broke,  as  we 
dared  not  show  a  light  whereby  to  read  the  Fu- 
neral Service.  I  never  waited  so  anxiously  or 
thought  the  dawn  so  long  in  coming.  I  was  wait- 
ing with  my  Prayer-book  in  my  hands  straining 
my  eyes  to  make  out  the  service;  the  men  with 
their  hats  off,  standing  by  the  bodies,  ready  to 
ease  them  down  into  the  sea.  Our  minds  I  fear 
wandered  towards  the  danger  that  existed  (almost 
to  a  certainty)  of  a  cruiser  making  us  out  by  the 
same  light  that  enabled  us  to  perform  our  sad 
office.  However,  as  soon  as  there  was  light  enough, 
the  service  was  read  without  any  indecent  hurry, 


RICHMOND  DURING  THE  SIEGE      185 

and  fortunately  nothing  was  in  sight  to  disturb 
us  for  several  hours  afterwards. 

It  was  miserable  work.  That  morning  about 
seven  o'clock  a  man  came  up  from  the  engine- 
room,  and  while  trying  to  say  something  to  me 
fell  down  in  a  fit,  and  was  dead  in  half  an  hour. 
There  was  quite  a  panic  among  us  all,  and  as  if 
to  make  things  worse  to  the  superstitious  sailors, 
whenever  we  stopped  several  horrid  sharks  im- 
mediately showed  themselves  swimming  round  the 
vessel.  The  men  lost  all  heart,  and  would  I  think 
have  been  thankful  to  have  been  captured,  as  a 
means  of  escape  from  what  they  believed  to  be 
a  doomed  vessel.  Taking  into  consideration  that 
if  we  got  into  Wilmington  we  should,  with  this 
dreadful  disease  on  board,  have  been  put  into  al- 
most interminable  quarantine  (for  the  inhabitants 
of  Wilmington  having  been  decimated  before  by 
yellow  fever,  which  was  introduced  by  blockade- 
runners,  had  instituted  the  most  severe  sanitary 
laws),  I  determined  to  go  back  to  Halifax. 

On  arriving  there  I  was  taken  very  ill  with  yel- 
low fever,  and  on  my  recovery  made  up  my  mind 
to  give  up  blockade-running  for  ever  and  all.  The 
game  indeed  was  fast  drawing  to  a  close.  Its 
decline  was  caused  in  the  first  by  the  impolitic 
behavior  of  the  people  at  Wilmington,  who,  pro- 


186  HOBART  PASHA 

fessedly  acting  under  orders  from  the  Confederate 
Government  at  Richmond,  pressed  the  blockade- 
runners  into  their  service  to  carry  out  cotton  on 
Government  account,  in  such  an  arbitrary  manner 
that  the  profit  to  their  owners,  who  had  been  put 
to  an  enormous  expense  and  risk  in  sending  ves- 
sels in,  was  so  much  reduced  that  the  ventures 
hardly  paid.  And  when  at  last  Fort  Fisher  was 
taken,  and  thus  all  blockade-running  entirely  put 
an  end  to,  the  enterprise  had  lost  much  of  its 
charm;  for,  unromantic  as  it  may  seem,  much  of 
that  charm  consisted  in  money-making. 

However,  I  will  mention  one  or  two  instances 
to  show  what  the  love  of  enterprise  will  lead  men 
to  do,  and  with  these  I  will  close  my  narration. 

On  the  first  night  of  the  attack  on  Fort  Fisher, 
which  it  may  be  remembered  was  a  failure  entirely 
through  bad  management,  though  its  little  gar- 
rison fought  like  lions,  a  blockade-runner  unaware 
of  what  was  going  on,  finding  that  the  blockading 
squadron  was  very  near  inshore  and  hearing  a 
great  deal  of  firing,  kept  creeping  nearer  to  the 
fort,  till  she  was  near  enough  to  make  out  what 
they  were  doing.  Judging  rightly  that  they  would 
never  suspect  that  any  attempt  would  be  made  to 
run  the  blockade  at  such  a  time,  she  joined  a  de- 
tachment of  gunboats  and  went  deliberately  in 
as  one  of  them.  When  they,  being  repulsed,  had 


RICHMOND  DURING  THE  SIEGE      187 

steamed  away,  our  friend  remained  at  anchor  under 
the  fort,  much  to  the  astonishment  of  the  garrison. 
It  would  have  been  rather  awkward  if  the  fort  had 
been  taken,  but  in  such  times  no  one  looks  very 
far  ahead. 

Another  vessel  went  out  from  Wilmington  the 
same  night,  and  was  unmolested.  But  fortune 
does  not  always  favor  the  brave.  Fort  Fisher  was 
at  last  taken  unbeknownst,  as  the  sailors  say,  to 
the  blockade-runners  at  Nassau  or  Bermuda,  at 
which  places  the  blindest  confidence  was  still  felt 
in  everything  connected  with  the  fortunes  of  the 
South,  and  where  to  whisper  an  opinion  that  any 
mishap  might  happen  to  Wilmington  was  posi- 
tively dangerous.  The  crafty  Northerners  placed 
the  lights  for  going  over  the  bar  as  usual.  The 
blockade-runners  came  cautiously  on,  and,  con- 
gratulating themselves  at  seeing  no  cruisers,  ran 
gaily  into  the  port.  The  usual  feasting  and  re- 
joicings were  about  to  commence  when  a  boat  full 
of  armed  men  came  alongside,  and  astonished  them 
by  telling  them  that  they  were  in  the  lion's  mouth. 
This  happened  to  four  or  five  vessels  before  the 
news  had  reached  the  islands.  It  was  hard  lines, 
no  doubt,  but  quite  fair  play.  It  was  the  blockad- 
ers*  turn  to  laugh  now. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE    LAND    BLOCKADE 

I  HAVE  now  come  to  the  end  of  my  blockade- 
running  yarns.  I  have  endeavored  to  avoid 
giving  offence  to  any  one:  to  the  American 
officers  and  men  who  manned  the  cruisers  I  can, 
as  a  nautical  man,  truly  and  honestly  give  the 
credit  of  having  most  zealously  performed  their 
hard  and  wearisome  duty.  It  was  not  their  fault 
that  I  did  not  visit  New  York  at  the  Government's 
expense ;  but  the  old  story  that  "  blockades,  to  be 
legal,  must  be  efficient,"  is  a  tale  for  bygone  days. 
So  long  as  batteries  at  the  entrance  of  the  port 
blockaded  keep  ships  at  a  respectable  distance,  the 
blockade  will  be  broken. 

A  practical  suggestion  that  my  experience  dur- 
ing the  time  I  was  a  witness  of  the  war  in  America 
would  lead  me  to  make  is,  that,  both  for  the  pur- 
poses of  war  and  of  blockade,  speed  is  the  most 
important  object  to  attain.  Towards  the  end  of 
that  contest,  blockade-running  became  much  more 
difficult,  in  fact,  was  very  nearly  put  a  stop  to, 
not  by  the  ports  becoming  more  effectually  closed 
188 


THE  LAND  BLOCKADE  189 

to  traffic,  but  by  the  sea  being  literally  covered 
with  very  fast  vessels,  who  picked  up  many  block- 
ade-runners at  sea  during  the  daytime,  especially 
when  they  had  their  heavy  cargoes  of  cotton  on 
board.  The  Americans  are  also  perfectly  alive  to 
the  fact  that,  for  purposes  of  war,  speed  is  all 
important.  An  American  officer  of  rank  once  re- 
marked to  me :  "  Give  me  a  fifteen-knot  wooden 
vessel  armed  with  four  heavy  guns  of  long  range, 
and  I'll  laugh  at  your  lumbering  iron-clads." 
Perhaps  he  had  prize-money  in  view  when  he  said 
so ;  or,  what  is  still  more  important,  he  may  have 
felt  how  easily  such  vessels  as  those  he  proposed 
would  sweep  the  seas  of  foreign  privateers.  In 
these  views  I  can  but  think  he  was  right  and  far- 
seeing.  Time  will  show. 

It  may  have  struck  my  readers  as  strange  that, 
in  a  country  with  so  large  an  inland  boundary,  the 
necessaries  of  life  and  munitions  of  war  could  not 
have  been  introduced  into  the  Southern  States  by 
their  extensive  frontiers:  but  it  is  only  a  just  trib- 
ute to  the  wonderful  energy  shown  by  the  Northern 
Americans  during  the  civil  war,  to  state  that  the 
blockade  by  land  was  as  rigid  as  that  enforced  by 
their  fleets;  and  almost  as  much  risk  was  run  by 
persons  who  broke  the  land  blockade  as  by  those 
who  evaded  the  vigilance  of  the  cruisers  at  sea. 
The  courses  of  the  large  inland  rivers  were  pro- 


190  HOB  ART  PASHA 

tected  by  gunboats,  and  on  account  of  the  rapids 
and  other  impediments,  such  as  snags,  with  which 
they  were  filled,  the  fords  or  passes  for  boats  were 
few  and  far  between,  and  thus  easily  guarded ;  be- 
sides which,  it  was  always  a  difficult  matter  to  avoid 
the  pickets  belonging  to  either  party,  who  were 
very  apt  to  suspect  a  man  they  found  creeping 
about  without  any  ostensible  object,  and  any  one 
suspected  of  being  a  spy  in  those  days  had  a  short 
shrift  and  a  long  rope  applied  before  he  knew  where 
he  was.  More  from  a  spirit  of  enterprise  than 
from  any  other  reason,  I  determined  to  see  what 
the  land  blockade  was  like,  and  while  at  Richmond, 
happening  to  meet  another  adventurous  individual 
also  so  inclined,  we  commenced  our  plan  of  cam- 
paign. 

First  of  all  (by  the  way,  I  ought  to  mention 
that  we  were  both  nautical  parties)  we  engaged 
a  pilot,  thereby  meaning  a  man  who  had  a  canoe 
or  two  stowed  away  in  different  parts  of  the  woods, 
and  who  was  well  acquainted  with  the  passes  on 
the  river.  Our  amiable  friend,  the  correspondent 
of  the  Times,  showed  so  much  confidence  in  our 
success  that  he  entrusted  to  our  care  a  packet  of 
despatches,  which  were  intended,  if  we  got  through 
successfully,  to  delight  the  eyes  of  the  readers  of 
the  "  Thunderer  "  some  weeks  afterwards. 

We  had  to  buy  a  horse  and  buggy,  as  naturally 


THE  LAND  BLOCKADE  191 

enough  no  one  would  let  them  out  on  hire  for  such 
an  enterprise;  besides,  those  were  not  days  when 
men  let  out  anything  on  hire  that  they  could  not 
keep  in  sight.  However,  we  sent  a  man  on  before 
us,  in  company  with  the  pilot,  to  a  station  some 
miles  from  the  frontier,  whose  business  it  was  to 
bring  the  trap  back  when  we  had  done  with  it. 
We  stowed  in  our  haversacks  a  pair  of  dry  stock- 
ings, a  good  stock  of  tobacco,  and  a  couple  of 
bottles  of  brandy,  against  the  road;  we  also  had 
passes  to  produce  in  the  event  of  questions  being 
asked  by  the  patrols  on  the  Southern  side  of  the 
frontier. 

All  being  ready,  we  started,  leaving  Richmond 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  We  travelled  on 
a  long,  dreary,  dusty  road  all  day,  stopping  about 
noon  for  two  hours  at  a  free  nigger's  hut,  where 
we  got  some  yams  and  milk,  and  about  sunset  ar- 
rived at  the  station  above  mentioned,  at  which  we 
were  to  dismiss  our  conveyance ;  and  right  glad 
we  were  to  get  rid  of  it,  for  we  were  bumped  to 
death  by  its  dreadful  oscillations. 

At  this  station  our  pilot  was  waiting  for  us. 
There  were  also  bivouacking  here  a  picket  of  cav- 
alry, who  told  us  they  had  seen  some  of  the  enemy's 
patrols  that  morning,  scouring  about  on  the  op- 
posite bank  of  the  river  just  where  we  proposed 
to  land.  Somehow  or  other,  people  always  seem 


192  HOBART  PASHA 

to  take  a  pleasure  in  telling  you  disagreeable  things 
at  a  time  when  you  rather  want  encouragement 
than  fear  instilled  into  you.  We  had  some  sup- 
per, consisting  of  eggs  and  bacon ;  and  at  nine 
o'clock,  it  being  then  pitch  dark,  the  pilot  informed 
us  it  was  time  to  start.  I  must  say  I  should  have 
been  more  comfortable  if  I  had  been  on  the  bridge 
of  my  little  craft,  just  starting  over  the  bar  at 
Wilmington,  with  the  probability  of  a  broadside 
from  a  gunboat  saluting  us  in  a  very  short  time, 
than  where  I  was.  But  it  would  never  do  to  think 
of  going  back,  so  we  crawled  into  the  wood. 

Our  land  pilot  informed  us  that  the  bank  of  the 
river,  from  whence  we  should  find  a  clear  passage 
across,  was  about  two  miles  distant.  I  never  re- 
member seeing  or  feeling  anything  to  be  compared 
with  the  darkness  of  that  pine  wood,  but  our  guide 
seemed  to  have  the  eyes  of  a  basilisk.  We  formed 
Indian  file,  our  guide  leading,  and  crept  along  as 
best  we  could.  At  last,  after  stealthily  progress- 
ing for  half  an  hour,  a  glimmer  01  starlight 
through  the  trees  showed  us  that  we  were  getting 
to  the  borders  of  the  wood. 

A  few  minutes  afterwards  we  were  desired  to  lie 
down.  Feeling  helpless  as  bajbes,  we  passively 
obeyed,  and  watched  our  guide  as  he  moved  about 
like  a  spectre  in  the  long  grass  on  the  banks  of 
the  Potomac,  looking  for  his  canoe.  At  last  he 


THE  LAND  BLOCKADE  193 

returned  and  whispered  that  the  boat  was  all  right, 
and  we  all  crept  like  serpents  to  where  it  was  con- 
cealed. Nothing  could  be  heard  but  the  wind 
blowing  through  the  trees,  and  the  discordant 
noises  of  frogs  and  other  denizens  of  the  swamp. 
So  dark  was  the  night  that  we  could  hardly  see 
fifty  yards  across  the  river.  I  suppose  this  was 
all  in  our  favor ;  but  how  our  guide  knew  the  marks 
by  which  to  steer  was  a  puzzle  to  me,  and  as  I 
never  meant  to  profit  by  this  experience  I  asked 
no  questions. 

Not  a  word  was  spoken  as  we  (myself  and  my 
friend)  launched  the  canoe  silently  into  the  water 
and  seated  ourselves,  or  rather  obeyed  orders  and 
lay  down,  the  pilot  sitting  in  the  stern,  with  his 
face  towards  the  bow  of  the  boat,  having  a  light 
paddle  in  his  hand,  which  he  worked  wonderfully 
well  and  silently.  The  distance  across  the  river 
was  about  three  miles. 

We  shot  ahead  at  a  rapid  pace  for  about  five 
minutes,  when  suddenly,  bump  went  the  canoe 
against  something.  To  lie  flat  down  was  to  our 
guide  the  work  of  a  second,  and  the  canoe  was  at 
once  transformed  into  a  floating  log. 

Well  it  was  so,  for  it  seems  we  had  struck  a 
small  boat  that  was  fastened  astern  of  the  gun- 
boat guarding  the  river.  That  the  noise  of  the 
collision  had  been  heard  on  board  was  evident,  for 


194  HOBART  PASHA 

a  sentry  hailed,  "  Boat  ahoy ! "  and  fired  his 
musket,  and  one  of  those  detestable  bright  lights 
which  the  American  men-of-war  have  a  nasty  habit 
of  showing  flashed  over  the  water,  making  every- 
thing visible  for  a  hundred  yards  round.  The 
current  of  the  river,  however,  was  very  strong, 
and  I  fancy  we  had  drifted  out  of  the  radius  cov- 
ered by  the  light,  as  we  were  fortunately  not  dis- 
covered; or  perhaps  the  diligent  watchman  on 
board  the  man-of-war  thought  some  huge  croco- 
dile or  other  monster  had  come  in  contact  with 
their  boat.*  Be  that  as  it  may,  we  were  safe,  and 
twenty  minutes  more  paddling  brought  us  to  land 
on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river;  but  unfortu- 
nately our  little  adventure  had  thrown  us  out  of 
our  line,  or  as  we  sailors  should  have  called  it,  out 
of  our  course.  We  hauled  the  canoe  out  of  the 
water,  and  hid  her  in  the  long  grass.  All  we 
could  see  around  us  was  a  dismal  swamp,  with  the 
dark  wood  in  the  background.  Our  guide  honestly 
told  us  that  having  been  thrown  out  of  his  "  reck- 
oning "  in  regard  to  our  position,  to  move  from 
where  we  were  before  daybreak  would  be  madness, 
so  we  lighted  our  pipes  and  waited  patiently,  hav- 
ing moved  well  in  under  cover  of  the  long  grass, 
so  as  to  be  out  of  sight  of  any  vessel  lying  in  the 
river  near  to  us. 

*  Not  in  the  Potomac.     (Ed.) 


THE  LAND  BLOCKADE  195 

When  the  day  dawned,  our  pilot  after  having 
reconnoitred  told  us  that  we  were  very  well  placed 
for  starting  for  Washington ;  but  that  it  would 
be  impossible,  on  account  of  the  patrols  that  were 
constantly  watching  the  river's  bank,  for  us  to 
move  during  the  daytime,  so  we  were  doomed  to 
remain  all  day  in  the  damp  grass.  Luckily  we 
had  put  in  our  pockets  at  last  night's  supper 
some  black  bread  and  an  onion  or  two ;  so  we  made 
the  best  of  things,  and  so  did  the  sandflies.  How 
they  did  pitch  into  us,  especially  into  me!  I  sup- 
pose the  good  living  I  had  been  accustomed  to  on 
board  the  blockade-runner,  or  my  natural  disposi- 
tion to  good  condition,  made  me  taste  sweet.  Sev- 
eral times  during  that  fearful  day  I  was  tempted 
to  rush  out  from  my  hiding-place,  and  defying 
patrols,  gunboat's  crew,  and  all  authorities,  make 
my  escape  from  that  place  of  torture. 

Any  one  who  has  experienced  the  necessity  of  re- 
maining quiet  under  such  an  infliction  as  an  attack 
of  millions  of  sandflies  on  a  hot  sunny  day  will  ap- 
preciate my  feelings.  About  one  o'clock  we  got 
as  a  diversion  from  our  tormentors  a  great  fright. 
A  boat's  crew  of  a  gunboat  lying  about  a  mile 
distant  from  our  retreat  landed,  and  out  of  sheer 
idleness  set  fire  to  the  grass  about  a  hundred  yards 
from  where  we  were  lying  concealed. 

We  heard  the  crackling  of  the  grass  and  thought 


196  HOBAHT  PASHA 

of  leaving  our  concealment  at  the  risk  of  discovery ; 
but  our  guide  wisely  remarked  that  the  wind  was 
the  wrong  way  to  bring  the  fire  towards  our  hid- 
ing-place, so  we  felt  safe.  The  feeling  of  security 
was  more  pleasant,  because  we  distinctly  heard 
the  men  belonging  to  the  gunboat  conversing  with 
others,  who  clearly  were  patrols  on  the  river's 
bank. 

The  evening  at  last  closed  in,  and  as  soon  as  it 
was  quite  dark  we  moved  on,  and  after  struggling 
through  a  thick  wood  for  half  an  hour,  got  on 
the  high  road  to  Washington.  We  travelled  by 
night,  meeting  occasional  patrols,  whom  we  dodged 
by  either  lying  down  or  getting  behind  trees  till 
they  had  passed. 

We  concealed  ourselves  carefully  during  the  day, 
and  on  the  third  morning  before  daylight  we  were 
within  half  a  mile  of  the  city.  As  we  got  near 
the  bridge  close  outside  Washington,  we  tried  our 
best  to  look  like  the  rest  of  the  people  who  were 
going  on  their  ordinary  business;  and  though 
somewhat  severely  scrutinised  by  the  guard  we  man- 
aged to  pass  muster,  and  got  safely  into  Washing- 
ton, footsore,  hungry,  and  regularly  done  up. 

We  went  to  a  small  inn  that  had  been  recom- 
mended to  us  when  we  were  in  Richmond,  where 
probably  they  had  some  Southern  proclivities. 
No  questions  were  asked  as  to  where  we  came  from, 


THE  LAND  BLOCKADE  197 

though,  I  take  it,  the  people  of  the  house  had  a 
shrewd  guess.  We  found  ourselves  among  friends 
and  perfectly  safe  from  meddling  inquiries. 

Thus  the  land  blockade  was  run.  I  do  not  think 
much  experience  was  gained  by  this  particularly 
unpleasant  exploit,  which  after  all  there  was  no 
very  great  difficulty  in  performing,  and  I  certainly 
prefer  my  own  element. 

After  a  short  stay  we  made  our  way  easily  to 
New  York,  not  feeling  any  anxiety  from  the  fact 
of  our  being  staunch  Southerners  in  our  opinions, 
inasmuch  as  there  were  numbers  of  sympathising 
friends  wherever  we  went,  more  perhaps  than  the 
authorities  were  aware  of.  I  stayed  a  few  days 
in  New  York  to  recruit  my  strength  after  the 
fatigue  of  the  journey,  and  saw  all  the  sights  and 
enjoyed  all  the  pleasures  of  the  most  delightful 
city  in  the  world,  except  perhaps  Paris  and  Lon- 
don. I  shall  not  attempt  to  give  my  readers  any 
description  of  New  York.  This  has  already  been 
done  by  abler  pens  than  mine. 

While  in  New  York  I  was  greatly  struck  with 
the  calm  confidence  of  the  bulk  of  the  Northerners 
in  the  ultimate  success  of  their  arms  against  the 
South.  If  I  gained  nothing  else  by  running  the 
land  blockade,  I  at  least  got  an  insight  into  the 
enormous  resources  possessed  by  the  North,  and  a 
knowledge  of  the  unflinching  determination  with 


198  HOB  ART  PASHA 

which  the  Federals  were  prepared  to  carry  on  the 
struggle  to  the  end.  I  must  confess  that  I  left 
New  York  with  my  confidence  that  the  Confeder- 
ates would  achieve  their  independence  very  much 
shaken. 

Not  being  desirous  of  going  through  the  risk 
and  inconvenience  of  running  the  land  blockade 
again,  I  returned  to  Nassau  by  steamer  from  New 
York. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

I  ENTER  THE  TURKISH  NAVY 

AFTER  superintending,  as  it  were,  the  ad- 
ventures just  detailed,  I  found  that  there 
was  still  a  year  to  pass  before  my  time 
for  service  as  a  post-captain  came  on ;  so  I  de- 
termined on  making  a  Continental  tour  to  fill  up 
the    space.     After  wandering  about   in   different 
countries,  I  more  by  accident  than  design  visited 
Constantinople. 

While  there,  I  called  upon  that  great  statesman 
Fuad  Pasha,  the  Grand  Vizier  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire,  to  whom  I  presented  my  letters  of  in- 
troduction. He  received  me  most  cordially,  and, 
during  our  conversation,  mentioned  that  for  some 
years  Turkey  had  had  to  deal  with  a  serious  in- 
surrection in  the  island  of  Crete,  which  it  was 
found  difficult  to  suppress,  owing  to  the  assistance 
from  without  which  the  revolutionary  party  re- 
ceived from  Greece;  also  on  account  of  the  some- 
what doubtful  laws  existing  as  to  blockade-run- 
ning. For,  although  Turkish  men-of-war  were 
continually  on  the  look-out,  vessels  mostly  under 
199 


200  HOBART  PASHA 

the  Greek  flag,  carrying  warlike  stores,  provisions, 
&c.,  evaded  the  watch  of  the  cruisers  on  one  pre- 
text or  another,  and  so  managed  to  keep  a  lively 
communication  with  the  insurrectionary  subjects 
of  the  Sultan  in  Crete.  Only  one  vessel  had  been 
captured  m  flagrante  delict o  after  a  sharp  fight, 
and  had  been  condemned  as  a  lawful  prize. 

The  Turkish  authorities  were  told  that,  accord- 
ing to  international  law,  a  blockade-running  vessel 
could  not  be  followed  more  than  ten  miles  from 
the  coast,  though  having  been  seen  breaking  the 
blockade,  and  that  as  soon  as  a  blockade-runner 
was  within  four  miles  of  any  island  not  belonging 
to  Turkey,  she  could  not  be  touched,  &c.  &c. ;  in 
fact,  laws  were  fabricated  to  defend  the  blockade- 
running,  which  fed  the  revolution  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that,  while  it  continued,  it  was  hopeless  to 
attempt  to  put  down  the  revolt. 

I  accidentally  hinted  to  His  Highness,  Fuad 
Pasha,  that  I  thought  the  blockade-running  could 
be  put  a  stop  to  without  infringing  any  law,  espe- 
cially where  laws  were  so  elastic.  He  seemed 
much  struck  with  my  remark,  and  asked  me  to  call 
on  him  again  in  a  few  days.  Now  I  had  merely 
mentioned  casually  what  I  thought.  I  had  no 
idea  of  anything  serious  resulting  from  our  inter- 
view. I  was  indeed  surprised  on  my  return  to  His 
Highness  by  his  saying :  "  I  have  consulted  His 


I  ENTER  THE  TURKISH  NAVY      201 

Majesty  the  Sultan,  who  desires  me  to  tell  you  that 
if  you  would  wish  to  take  service  with  the  Ottoman 
Government,  arrangements  can  be  made  whereby 
you  can  do  so,  only  you  must  take  the  risk  and 
responsibility  of  offending  your  own  people." 

I  had  to  consider  a  little  before  replying.  I 
bore  in  mind  that  there  were  some  two  hundred  and 
fifty  post-captains  in  the  English  navy  clamor- 
ing for  employment,  and  that  there  were  at  the 
moment  I  speak  of  only  about  forty  employed.  I 
remembered  that  for  twenty-four  years  an  Eng- 
lish officer  of  the  same  rank  as  myself  had  held 
the  post  now  offered  to  me,  namely,  that  of  Naval 
Adviser  to  the  Turkish  Government,  that  the  post 
was  just  vacant  through  the  retirement  of  Sir 
Adolphus  Slade  (who  had  served  honorably  for 
twenty  years,  and  had  retired  from  old  age).  I 
calculated  in  those  days  of  profound  peace  there 
was  more  probability  of  active  service  in  the  East- 
ern world  than  elsewhere.  So  I  answered: 
"  Well,  your  Highness,  I  am  ready  if  the  terms 
offered  me  are  satisfactory." 

I  may  say  they  proved  most  satisfactory;  so, 
to  make  a  long  story  short,  I  accepted  and  was 
booked  as  a  Turkish  employe  for  five  years,  always 
retaining  my  rank  and  position  as  an  English 
naval  officer,  and  my  nationality  as  a  British  sub- 
ject. 


202 

I  found  afterwards,  as  regards  my  position  as 
an  English  naval  officer,  I  had  somewhat  reckoned 
without  my  host.  It  seems  that  this  post  was 
considered  by  the  English  Admiralty  as  one  of 
their  choice  gifts,  and  many  were  the  applicants 
for  it  on  Sir  A.  Slade's  retirement,  so  much  so 
that  their  lordships  made  great  capital  of  this  ap- 
pointment, and  were  furious  at  my  action  in  the 
matter.  They  said  I  had  "  cut  out  "  a  good  old 
servant  to  whom  they  had  intended  to  give  it. 
They  suggested  my  coming  home  at  once,  &c.,  &c. 
I  didn't  see  it  in  the  same  light  as  their  lordships, 
and  I  signified  my  determination  to  remain  where 
I  was ;  for  which,  as  will  be  seen,  they  paid  me  off 
in  course  of  time.  Luckily,  I  could  afford  by  the 
arrangement  I  had  made  with  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment to  be  in  the  Admiralty's  bad  books,  and  even 
the  frowns  of  the  English  Ambassador  did  not 
affect  me  a  bit.  I  believe  they  called  me  "  ad- 
venturer," "  artful  dodger,"  &c.,  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  I  was  in  every  way  as  much  en- 
titled to  this  position  as  the  Admiralty  "  pet," 
whoever  he  may  have  been. 

From  the  day  of  signing  my  contract  (which 
has  been  constantly  renewed)  to  the  time  }  write, 
some  sixteen  years,  I  never  have  had  cause  to  re- 
gret the  step  I  took. 

Shortly  after  my  installation  as  vice-admiral  in 


I  ENTER  THE  TURKISH  NAVY      203 

the  Turkish  navy,  it  was  decided  that  I  should  be 
sent  to  Crete  to  put  a  stop  to  the  blockade-run- 
ning. "  Set  a  thief  to  catch  a  thief,"  as  one  of 
my,  what  may  be  called,  unfriendly  critics  has 
written  about  me,  and  the  remark  was  ben  trovato 
at  all  events,  for  I  certainly  did  know  something 
about  blockade-running. 

I  accordingly  hoisted  my  flag  in  a  fine  fifty-gun 
wooden  frigate,  and  arrived  at  Suda  Bay,  the 
principal  port  of  Crete,  where  six  or  seven  Turk- 
ish men-of-war  were  stationed,  of  which  I  took 
command.  Here  I  heard  all  the  naval  officers  had 
to  say  about  the  blockade,  the  impunity  with  which 
it  was  carried  on,  &c.  I  found,  as  I  before  men- 
tioned, that  the  Turkish  naval  officers'  hands  were 
tied  by  all  sorts  of  imaginary  difficulties.  They 
had  most  zealously  done  their  duty  while  trying 
to  stop  the  blockade-running.  They  had  shown 
great  pluck  and  endurance,  but  they  always  feared 
to  break  the  law  and  so  get  the  ever-bullied  Turk- 
ish Government  into  trouble.  Here  I  also  heard 
of  the  triumphant  manner  in  which  the  blockade- 
runners  left  the  ports  of  Greece.  How  the  mayors 
of  Syra,  Poros,  and  other  Greek  towns,  conducted, 
with  flags  flying,  bands  playing,  and  the  hurrahs 
of  the  entire  population,  the  hitherto  triumphant 
blockade-running  captains  and  crews  to  their 
ships,  on  the  way  to  feed  the  flame  of  revolt  against 


204  HOBART  PASHA 

a  nation  with  whom  the  Greeks  professed  to  be  on 
most  friendly  terms. 

I  heard  all  this,  and  was  moreover  told  that  if 
the  blockade-running  was  stopped,  the  insurgents 
in  Crete  would  at  once  lay  down  their  arms  for 
want  of  food  and  warlike  stores. 

I  determined  to  stop  it  at  all  risks. 

Picking  out  of  my  squadron  a  couple  of  fast 
despatch  boats  and  a  quick  steaming  corvette  to 
accompany  my  flag-ship,  I  started  on  a  cruise,  and 
once  out  of  sight  of  the  harbor  of  Suda,  steamed 
straight  for  Syra.  Now  this  port  had  been  the 
principal  delinquent  in  fitting  out  and  sending 
blockade-runners  to  Crete;  so  I  thought  that  by 
going  as  it  were  to  the  starting-point,  I  should  be 
somewhat  nearer  to  my  quarry  than  by  waiting  for 
them  in  Crete.  Circumstances  favored  me  in  the 
most  marvellous  manner.  As  morning  broke  the 
day  after  I  left  Suda,  I  was  about  eight  miles  from 
Syra  harbor  steaming  slowly,  when  I  saw  what 
made  my  heart  leap  into  my  mouth,  viz.,  a  regular 
blockade-runner  exactly  of  the  type  used  in  the 
American  war,  going  at  full  speed  for  Syra  har- 
bor. 

He  was  outside  my  little  squadron,  and  must 
pass  within  a  mile  or  so  ahead  to  get  to  his  port. 

A  somewhat  similar  position  I  have  so  often  seen, 
in  fact,  taken  part  in,  of  a  craft  running  for  dear 


I  ENTER  THE  TURKISH  NAVY      205 

life  into  Charleston  or  Wilmington,  across  the  bows 
of  blockading  ships  just  at  daylight.  I  saw  that 
he  was  firing  up  all  he  knew,  and  was  going  at  a 
tremendous  speed.  I  signalled  to  my  despatch 
boats  to  chase,  and  when  my  flag-ship  was  within 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  I  fired  a  blank  gun  to  make 
him  show  his  colors.  To  this  he  replied  by  firing 
his  long  Armstrong  gun  with  such  effect  that  the 
shot  cut  away  the  stanchion  of  the  bridge  on  which 
I  was  standing.  Now,  gallant  fellow  as  he  was, 
in  doing  this  he  was  wrong;  he  should  have  shown 
his  colors  and  run  (if  he  knew  he  wasn't  honest) 
for  the  shelter  of  a  neutral  flag,  but  not  fired  at 
a  man-of-war,  who  in  her  duty  as  forming  part 
of  the  police  of  the  seas  fires  a  blank  gun  asking 
for  colors  from  a  suspicious  vessel.  He  undoubt- 
edly committed  an  act  of  piracy  and  gave  me  a 
splendid  hold  on  him. 

My  despatch  boats  chased  the  blockade-runner 
close  to  Syra  harbor,  both  parties  keeping  a  warm 
running  fight.  When  I  recalled  them,  I  found  that 
this  vessel  was  called  the  Enossis.  Her  captain 
was  a  most  courageous  Greek,  who  thought  of 
nothing  but  carrying  his  cargo  and  fighting  to  the 
last  for  his  ship,  evidently  ignoring  all  laws,  nor 
did  he  even  think  that  on  this  occasion  some  one 
was  acting  against  him  who  knew  something  of  the 
rules  of  blockade,  and  who  could  have  told  him 


206  HOBART  PASHA 

that  an  armed  blockade-runner  is  a  pirate,  that  is 
to  say,  if  she  uses  her  arms  against  a  man-of-war. 

I  was  so  satisfied  with  what  had  occurred  that  I 
sent  off  one  of  my  despatch  boats  to  the  Governor 
of  Crete,  telling  him  that  he  need  not  fear  the 
blockade-runners  any  more,  as  they  (the  two  others 
were  lying  in  Syra  harbor)  had  put  themselves  in 
so  false  a  position  that  at  all  events  for  several 
weeks  I  could  detain  them  at  Syra.  I  knew  that 
one  week  would  suffice  to  stop  the  revolt  in  Crete, 
as  without  the  blockade-runners  the  insurrection- 
ists had  positively  nothing  to  eat. 

(I  may  as  well  at  once  observe  that  I  was  per- 
fectly justified  in  saying  this,  for  within  three 
days,  no  blockade-runner  arriving  at  the  island, 
the  insurgents  laid  down  their  arms  and  begged 
for  bread.  And  so  ended  the  Cretan  revolt.) 

Having  recalled  the  vessels  I  had  sent  to  chase 
the  Enossis  into  Syra  harbor,  I  steamed  in  the 
roads  off  that  port,  and  anchored  with  three  ves- 
sels. 

I  then  sent  to  the  authorities  on  shore  at  Syra, 
and  demanded  their  assistance  in  arresting  a  vessel 
that  had  taken  shelter  in  their  port,  which,  as  I 
stated  in  my  despatch,  had  committed  an  act  of 
piracy  on  the  high  seas,  by  firing  at  my  flagship 
when  the  latter  called  upon  her  to  show  her  colors 
by  firing  a  blank  gun.  At  the  same  time  I  in- 


I  ENTER  THE  TURKISH  NAVY      207 

formed  the  authorities  of  Syra  that,  as  the  com- 
panions of  the  Enossis  were  in  the  harbor,  I  should 
allow  none  of  them  to  go  to  sea  until  the  question 
of  that  vessel's  illegal  action  was  cleared  up.  By 
doing  this  I  took  the  wind  out  of  the  sails  of  the 
authorities  of  Syra.  They  of  course  were  furious, 
and  at  once  despatched  a  vessel  to  Athens  for 
orders.  At  the  same  time  they  made  a  semblance 
of  meeting  my  demand  by  stating  that  the  Enossis 
should  be  tried  by  international  law.  They  also 
requested  me  to  make  my  protest  and  to  leave  Syra, 
as  the  populace  were  in  a  state  of  excitement  be- 
yond their  power  of  control.  In  this  request  all 
the  foreign  consuls  joined. 

I  positively  declined  to  leave ;  had  I  consented  I 
am  convinced  the  Enossis  and  her  companions 
would  have  left  for  Crete  as  soon  as  I  was  out  of 
sight.  In  the  meantime  I  sent  a  despatch  boat  to 
Smyrna  with  telegrams  for  Constantinople  asking 
for  assistance,  stating  my  position.  I  remained 
off  Syra  with  two  ships,  one  being  a  despatch  boat, 
watching  the  movements  of  the  three  blockade-run- 
ners, whom  I  notified  that  I  would  sink  them  if 
they  attempted  to  leave  the  port. 

I  often  wonder  they  didn't  make  a  rush  for  it 
on  the  first  night  of  my  arrival,  when  I  was  almost 
alone.  The  Greeks  never  want  pluck.  If  they 
had  done  so,  one  vessel  out  of  the  three  would  cer- 


208  HOBART  PASHA 

tainly  have  escaped,  taken  food  to  the  insurgents, 
and  capsized  all  my  calculations. 

It  merely  corroborated  my  view  of  blockade- 
running  peoples,  namely,  that  they  go  for  gain 
(some  perhaps  for  love  of  enterprise)  ;  don't  fight 
unless  very  hard  pressed,  and  not  always  then  if 
they  are  wise;  that  is  what  it  should  be.  It  is 
outrageous  that  adventurous  persons  not  engaged 
in  war  should  become  belligerents,  as  well  as  car- 
riers of  arms  and  provisions  to  an  enemy. 

The  first  night  I  passed  off  Syra  was  one  of 
great  anxiety,  as  I  had  promised  the  Governor  of 
Crete  that  no  blockade-runner  should  go  to  the 
island. 

In  the  morning  a  small  steamer  arrived  from 
Athens  with  a  Turkish  official  on  board.  He  came 
to  me  pale  as  a  sheet,  and  told  me  that  as  he  left 
the  Piraeus  a  Greek  frigate  was  on  the  point  of 
leaving  for  Syra,  whose  captain,  officers,  and  crew 
had  sworn  to  bring  back  Hobart  Pasha  dead  or 
alive.  Half  an  hour  afterwards  I  got  under 
weigh,  and  as  I  steamed  about  in  the  offing  I  saw 
the  Greek  frigate  coming  round  the  point. 

It  was  a  moment  of  intense  excitement.  The 
tops  of  the  houses  at  Syra  were  covered  with 
people.  It  looked  like  the  old  story  of  the  Chesa- 
peake and  Shannon,  where  the  people  turned  out 


I  ENTER  THE  TURKISH  NAVY      209 

to  see  the  fine  sport,  and  the  band  played,  "  Yankee 
doodle  dandy,  oh !  " 

However,  I  steamed  towards  my  supposed  enemy, 
went  almost  alongside  of  him,  expecting  momen- 
tarily to  receive  his  broadside,  when  to  my  astonish- 
ment and  I  must  say  satisfaction  he  steamed  into 
the  anchorage,  and  let  go  three  anchors.  This 
didn't  look  like  fighting.  I  found  afterwards  that 
the  Greek  frigate  had  no  powder  on  board.  It 
was  a  shame  to  put  her  captain  in  so  false  a  posi- 
tion, as  everyone  knows  what  gallant  stuff  the 
Greeks  are  made  of,  and  swagger  is  a  mistake 
where  real  pluck  exists. 

I  felt  for  him  very  much,  as  he  seemed  so  sorry 
for  himself. 

A  few  days  after  this  I  was  reinforced  by  six  or 
seven  Turkish  ironclads,  and  in  fact  commanded 
the  position  in  spite  of  all  remonstrances  on  the 
part  of  foreigners  and  other  declared  enemies  of 
Turkish  rule. 

We  went  through  the  laughable  farce  of  a  trial 
of  the  Enossis  on  board  a  vessel  lying  in  port  (I 
dared  not  land),  which  of  course  ended  in  nothing. 

The  Governor-General  of  Crete  sent  all  the  in- 
surgents in  Turkish  ships  to  me  to  deal  with,  and 
this  was  the  most  difficult  thing  I  had  to  do.  Poor 
beggars,  they  were  fine  though  misguided  men. 


210  HOBART  PASHA 

After  giving  them  a  good  feed,  for  they  were  ter- 
ribly hungry,  I  distributed  them  among  the  neigh- 
boring Greek  islands,  and  so  finished  the  affair. 

There  are  those  who  say  that  my  acts  off  Syra 
were  illegal,  especially  as  to  stopping  the  Enossis's 
companions  from  leaving  the  port.  All  I  can  say 
is,  the  Greeks  en  masse,  from  the  Government  down- 
wards, had  paid  so  little  regard  to  international 
law  during  three  years,  as  regards  their  action  in 
encouraging  revolution  in  the  territory  of  a 
friendly  country,  that  a  little  stretch  of  the  law 
on  my  part  was  quite  justifiable. 

While  on  the  subject  of  Crete,  which  is  always 
supposed  to  be  in  a  chronic  state  of  revolt,  I  would 
say  a  few  words. 

I  maintain  that  the  Cretan  people,  of  whom  I 
know  a  good  deal,  do  not  "want  an  alliance  with 
Greece,  and  if  the  always  over-excited  ambitious 
Greek  committees  would  only  keep  quiet  and  give 
up  agitation,  the  Cretans  would  be  the  happiest 
community  in  the  Mediterranean. 

While  I  commanded  for  more  than  a  year  a  large 
squadron  of  Turkish  ironclads  stationed  in  Crete, 
I  had  many  opportunities  of  judging  as  to  the 
sentiments  of  the  Cretans. 

I  never  saw  a  more  orderly,  well-disposed  people 
if  let  alone  by  agitators. 

On  my  return  to  Constantinople  the  reception  I 


I  ENTER  THE  TURKISH  NAVY      211 

received  from  several  of  the  European  Powers  was 
most  gratifying. 

I  received  high  honors  in  the  shape  of  decora- 
tions, for  having,  as  they  said,  by  my  conduct  pre- 
vented a  European  war.  My  own  country  alone 
stood  aloof  from  me.  The  Admiralty  went  so  far 
as  to  tell  me  that  if  I  did  not  immediately  return 
to  England,  my  name  would  be  erased  from  the 
list  of  naval  officers.  An  officer  of  high  rank,  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Admiralty,  wrote  to  me  a 
semi-official  letter,  in  which  he  said,  "  Unless  you 
leave  the  Turkish  service,  you  will  be  scratched 
off  the  list."  Feeling  exceedingly  hurt  at  such 
treatment,  at  a  moment  when  I  expected  encourage- 
ment for  having  maintained  the  honor  of  my 
country  while  acting  as  a  naval  officer  should  have 
done,  I  wrote  to  him,  "  You  may  scratch  and  be 
d — d."  This  letter  was,  I  think,  very  unfairly 
quoted  against  me  some  time  afterwards  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  However,  my  name  was 
erased  from  the  list  of  naval  officers,  and  was  not 
replaced  there  for  several  years.  I  was  well  and 
kindly  received  by  His  Majesty  the  Sultan,  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  full  admiral,  and  settled  down 
to  my  work  as  a  Turkish  naval  officer,  head  of  the 
staff  of  the  Imperial  Navy. 

It  becomes  a  most  delicate  task  to  continue 
sketches  of  my  life  during  the  latter  time  that  I 


HOBART  PASHA 

have  been  in  Turkey,  because  such  anecdotes  strike 
nearer  home,  that  is  to  say,  become  more  what  may 
be  called  personal  as  regards  my  public  and  private 
doings.  However,  I  will  endeavor,  somewhat 
briefly  perhaps,  to  do  so  in  a  way  that  may  be  in- 
teresting to  my  readers,  and  offensive  to  no  one. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  serve  such  masters  as  the 
Turks ;  they  are  always  kind  and  considerate  to 
strangers  in  their  service,  and  if  one  avoids  offend- 
ing them  in  certain  matters  on  which  they  are  sup- 
posed to  have  prejudices,  and  if  one  while  giving 
advice  avoids  offensive  censure,  it  is  easy  to  get 
on.  While  serving  in  Turkey  my  principal  busi- 
ness has  been  relating  to  naval  matters,  regarding 
which  I  have  had  to  propose  certain  progressive 
changes  such  as  are  being  constantly  introduced 
into  foreign  navies,  more  especially  the  English. 
These  changes  proposed  by  me  have  generally  been 
accepted,  and  I  can  but  think  that  many  beneficial 
alterations  have  been  introduced  into  the  Turkish 
Navy  tending  to  improve  that  service. 

His  Majesty  the  Sultan  has  named  me  one  of 
his  special  A.D.C.'s,  and  in  that  capacity  I  have 
had  at  times,  and  still  have,  important  duties. 

His  Majesty  always  treats  me  with  the  greatest 
kindness  and  consideration,  and  I  have  a  sincere 
respect  and  affection  for  him,  both  as  a  sovereign, 
and,  if  I  may  presume  to  say  so,  as  a  friend. 


CHAPTER  XVHI 

THE    WAR    WITH    RUSSIA 

IN  1877  the  war  with  Russia  broke  out,  and 
through  the  absence  of  any  powerful  naval 
enemy,  little  in  the  way  of  hard  fighting  was 
done;  still  some  very  important  service  was  per- 
formed by  the  Turkish  fleet,  much  more  so  than  is 
generally  known. 

In  the  first  place  we  had  to  hold  the  Black  Sea, 
with  its  extensive  sea-board.  We  defended  Sulina 
and  Batoum  against  Russian  attack  by  land,  and 
by  torpedo  on  the  sea.  We  had  to  watch  the  little 
swift  packet  boats  equipped  as  men-of-war,  which 
constantly  made  a  rush  from  Sebastopol  and 
Odessa  (as  they  did,  by  the  way,  in  the  Crimean 
War,  when  twenty  to  thirty  English  and  French 
ships  were  watching  them),  and  when  they  could 
get  a  chance  burnt  some  unfortunate  little  coast- 
ing craft,  sending  the  crews  of  such  vessels  adrift 
in  small  boats  to  make  the  best  of  their  way  to  the 
nearest  land.  In  addition  to  the  above-named 

services,  the  Turkish  fleet  was  called  upon  con- 
213 


214  HOBART  PASHA 

stantly  to  transport  large  bodies  of  troops  from 
port  to  port. 

On  one  memorable  occasion  the  Turkish  men- 
of-war  and  transports  conveyed  the  whole  of 
Suleiman  Pasha's  army,  consisting  of  forty  thou- 
sand men,  from  the  coast  of  Albania  to  Salonica, 
a  distance  of  some  eight  hundred  miles,  within  the 
short  space  of  twelve  days,  a  feat,  I  venture  to 
say,  unheard  of  in  the  naval  annals  of  this  cen- 
tury. Sulina  was  held  safely  by  the  Turkish  fleet 
until  the  end  of  the  war. 

Batoum  could  not  have  been  held  by  Dervish 
Pasha  and  his  army  had  not  the  Turkish  fleet  been 
there  to  help  him.  In  short,  that  fleet  kept  the 
command  of  the  Black  Sea  during  the  whole  of 
that  disastrous  war,  cruising  at  times  in  the  most 
fearful  weather  I  have  ever  experienced,  for  twelve 
months  in  a  sea  almost  without  ports  of  refuge; 
and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  Turks  never 
lost  a  ship,  constantly  attacked  though  they  were, 
as  I  shall  show  hereafter,  by  the  plucky  Russian 
torpedo  boats,  who  frequently  made  rushes  at  them 
from  Muscovite  ports,  and  were  only  saved  from 
destruction  through  the  precautions  taken  against 
these  diabolical  machines,  which  come  and  go  like 
flashes  of  lightning.  It  is  true  that  in  the  Danube 
two  small  Turkish  vessels  of  war  were  destroyed 
by  torpedoes,  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  the 


WAR  WITH  RUSSIA 

Danube  was  under  military  law,  and  that  the  look- 
out kept  on  board  these  vessels  was  not  by  any 
means  what  it  should  have  been. 

But  I  must  repeat,  as  so  many  contrary  reports 
have  been  spread,  that  no  Turkish  ironclad  was 
injured  by  torpedoes  in  the  Black  Sea. 

I  will  explain  hereafter  how  many  attacks  were 
made  with  no  result  whatever.  Some  few  days 
before  the  war  broke  out  I  was  sent  to  examine 
the  Danube  from  a  professional  point  of  view,  and 
it  was  soon  made  clear  to  me  that  much  could  be 
done,  in  the  way  of  defending  that  great  estuary, 
had  nautical  experience  and  the  splendid  material 
of  which  the  Turkish  sailor  is  made  been  properly 
utilised.  But  alas !  I  found  that,  contrary  to  the 
views  of  His  Majesty  the  Sultan,  a  line  of  action 
was  followed  showing  that  pig-headed  obstinacy 
and  the  grossest  ignorance  prevailed  in  the  councils 
of  those  who  had  supreme  command  in  that  river. 
I  found  that  my  advice  and  that  of  competent 
Turkish  officers,  in  comparatively  subordinate  posi- 
tions like  myself,  was  entirely  ignored,  and  that 
few,  if  any,  proper  steps  were  taken  to  prevent 
the  enemy's  progress  into  Roumania,  and  later  on, 
to  stop  his  passing  the  Danube  almost  unopposed. 

On  the  day  that  war  was  declared  I  was  at 
Rustchuk,  the  headquarters  of  the  Turkish  army. 
On  that  occasion  I  made  a  final  effort,  by  making 


216  HOBART  PASHA 

propositions  which  events  have  proved  would  have 
arrested  the  advance  of  the  enemy. 

I  was  simply  told  to  mind  my  own  business,  and 
ordered  to  immediately  rejoin  my  ships,  which 
were  at  the  moment  lying  at  the  Sulina  mouth  of 
the  Danube. 

It  was  all  very  well  to  tell  me  to  do  this;  but 
to  do  so  was  apparently  not  so  easy  of  execution, 
for  the  reason  that  the  Russians  had  no  sooner 
declared  war  than  they  took  possession  of  the 
Lower  Danube,  by  planting  fortifications  on  the 
hills  commanding  the  river  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Galatz  and  Ibraila,  at  the  same  time  laying 
down  torpedoes  across  the  river  in  great  quantities 
(as  regards  the  latter,  it  was  so  reported,  though 
in  my  opinion  it  was  no  easy  matter  so  quickly 
to  place  torpedoes).  I  informed  the  military 
commanders  of  this ;  their  answer  was,  "  Go,  and 
rejoin  your  ships  via  Varna,  if  you  will  only  get 
out  of  this;  we  don't  want  your  advice."  By 
this  time,  however,  my  professional  pride  was 
wounded,  and  I  determined  to  do  something  to 
show  my  contempt  for  them  all. 

The  only  thing  left  for  me  to  do  for  the  mo- 
ment was  a  little  blockade-running,  so  I  resolved 
to  bring  my  ship  back  past  the  Russian  barrier 
in  the  Lower  Danube  at  all  risks,  instead  of  tamely 
returning  by  land.  So  great  was  the  jealousy 


WAR  WITH  RUSSIA  217 

against  me  that  I  almost  think  the  Turkish  author- 
ities commanding  in  the  Danube  would  have  been 
pleased  if  I  had  failed,  and  so  come  to  grief.  I 
had  with  me  a  very  fast  paddle-steamer  called  the 
Rethymo;  her  captain  and  crew  were  what  the 
Turks  always  are  —  brave  as  lions  and  obedient 
as  lambs. 

I  took  on  board  a  river  pilot,  whom  I  gave  to 
understand  that  if  he  got  me  on  shore  I  would 
blow  his  brains  out.  Before  starting  I  sent  for 
my  officers  and  crew  and  told  them  of  the  perhaps 
unnecessary  dangers  we  should  run  in  passing  the 
Russian  barrier,  and  gave  to  all  the  option  of 
leaving  or  going  on.  They  decided  to  a  man  to 
go  on.  I  arranged  my  time  so  as  to  pass  Ibraila 
and  Galatz  during  the  night.  We  arrived  to 
within  thirty  miles  of  the  former  place  at  about 
five  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  I  was  met  by  a 
Turkish  official  who  was  leaving  Ibraila  on  the 
war  having  broken  out.  He  was  fearfully  ex- 
cited, and  begged  of  me  on  his  knees  not  to  go  to 
what  he  called  certain  destruction.  He  told  me 
that  he  had  seen  the  Russians  laying  down  tor- 
pedoes that  same  day,  that  the  batteries  were 
numerous,  and  that  they  were  aware  of  my  com- 
ing, &c.,  all  of  which  I  took  with  a  considerable 
large  grain  of  salt,  and  left  him  lamenting  my  mad 
folly,  as  he  called  it. 


218  HOBART  PASHA 

Now  I  must  be  candid.  I  did  not  feel  the 
danger.  I  calculated  that  to  put  down  torpedoes 
in  a  current  such  as  was  in  the  Danube  would  be 
a  matter  of  time,  and  probably  they  would  not 
succeed  after  all.  I  had  a  plan  in  my  head  for 
passing  the  batteries,  so  as  to  render  them  harm- 
less. So  in  reality  I  was  about  to  attempt  no 
very  impossible  feat.  Three  hours  after  dusk  we 
sighted  the  lights  of  Ibraila.  The  current  was 
running  quite  five  knots  an  hour;  that,  added  to 
our  speed  of  fifteen,  made  us  to  be  going  over  the 
ground  at  about  twenty  knots.  It  was  pitch  dark, 
and  I  think  it  would  have  puzzled  the  cleverest 
gunner  to  have  hit  us,  though  they  might  have 
done  so  by  chance.  I  determined  not  to  give  them 
that  chance,  by  going  so  close  under  the  bank  that 
the  guns  could  hardly  be  sufficiently  depressed 
to  hit  us. 

As  we  approached  the  batteries  to  my  horror  a 
flash  of  red  flame  came  out  of  the  funnel  (that 
fatal  danger  in  blockade-running),  on  which  sev- 
eral rockets  were  thrown  up  from  the  shore,  and 
a  fire  was  opened  at  where  the  flame  had  been 
seen.  Meanwhile  we  had  shot  far  away  from  the 
place,  and  closed  right  under  the  batteries.  I 
heard  the  people  talking ;  every  now  and  then  they 
fired  shot  and  musketry,  but  I  hardly  heard  the 
whiz  of  the  projectiles.  My  principal  anxiety 


WAR  WITH  RUSSIA  219 

was  that  we  might  get  on  one  of  the  many  banks 
so  common  in  the  Danube,  and  I  had  perhaps  a 
little  fear  of  torpedoes,  especially  when  we  passed 
the  mouths  of  the  little  estuaries  that  run  into 
the  Danube;  once  we  just  touched  the  ground,  but 
thank  goodness  we  quickly  got  free,  and  though 
fired  at  by  guns  and  rifles,  went  on  unhurt.  It 
took  us  exactly  an  hour  and  forty  minutes  to  pass 
dangerous  waters,  and  the  early  summer  morning 
was  breaking  as  we  cleared  all  danger.  I  could 
not  resist  turning  round  and  firing  a  random  shot 
at  the  banks  studded  with  Russian  tents,  now  that 
I  was  able  to  breathe  freely  again. 

I  must  say  that  my  pilot,  whom  I  at  first  sus- 
pected of  being  a  traitor  in  Russian  pay,  behaved 
splendidly. 

He  told  me  he  had  never  passed  such  a  night 
of  fear  and  anxiety:  what  with  my  cocked  pistol 
at  his  head  and  the  constant  fear  of  putting  the 
vessel  on  a  bank,  he  certainly  had  had  a  bad  time. 
However,  I  rewarded  him  well.  On  arrival  at 
Toultcha,  a  small  town  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Danube,  still  held  by  the  Turks,  I  found  telegrams 
from  headquarters  at  Rustchuk  (the  place  I  had 
left),  inquiring  if  Hobart  Pasha  had  passed 
Ibraila  and  Galatz,  and  ordering  that  if  he  had 
done  so  he  was  immediately  to  leave  the  Danube. 

I  cannot  express  my  annoyance,  as  even  at  that 


220  HOBART  PASHA 

moment  I  could  have  brought  a  couple  of  small 
ironclads  that  were  lying  at  Sulina  into  the  river 
and  played  "  old  Harry  "  with  the  Russian  army, 
then  advancing  into  Roumania,  via  Galatz.  The 
bridge  near  Galatz  could  certainly  have  been  de- 
stroyed. It  was  hard  on  the  gallant  Turks,  hard 
on  the  Sultan  and  his  government,  and  hard  on 
me,  to  see  such  magnificent  chances  thrown  away. 
From  that  moment  I  trembled  for  the  result  of 
the  war.  I  felt  that,  although  the  Turks  had  a 
splendid  army,  and  a  fleet  even  for  a  first-class 
European  Power  to  be  proud  of,  the  obstinacy  and 
stupidity  of  the  commanders  of  the  Danube  were 
sure  to  cause  disaster. 

Unhappily  my  prognostications  came  true.  In 
war  the  first  blow  is  half  the  battle,  and  it  was 
sad  to  see  such  glorious  troops  outmanoeuvred  at 
the  very  outset.  His  Majesty  the  Sultan  in  his 
wisdom  has  justly  punished  by  banishment  and 
disgrace  these  men  who,  instead  of  covering  the 
Turkish  nation  with  glory  through  the  deeds  of 
its  army,  were  the  cause  of  the  defeat  of  the  finest 
troops  in  the  world.  That  the  Russians  might 
and  would  have  been  beaten,  had  the  means  in  the 
hands  of  those  commanding  the  Turkish  army 
been  properly  utilised,  is  as  clear  as  day.  How- 
ever, it  is  not  my  business  to  comment  on  such  mat- 
ters. 


WAR  WITH  RUSSIA 

I  now  return  to  my  own  element,  and  will  en- 
deavor to  describe  some  of  the  occurrences  of  the 
war  in  the  Black  Sea.  The  Russians  had  three 
lines  of  action  in  those  waters.  First,  to  capture 
Sulina,  and  to  destroy  the  squadron  lying  at 
anchor  in  its  roadstead ;  second,  to  capture 
Batoum  and  its  much-envied  harbor;  third,  the 
somewhat  undignified  action  of  sending  out  fast 
vessels,  mostly  mail  boats,  armed  with  a  couple  of 
guns,  their  object  being  to  destroy  the  Turkish 
coasting  trade.  These  vessels  were  most  difficult 
to  catch,  as  they  always  watched  their  opportunity 
to  slip  out  of  their  strongholds  when  the  Turkish 
ships  were  employed  carrying  troops,  or  otherwise 
engaged.  There  was,  I  venture  to  think,  some 
illegality  in  this  conduct  of  the  Russian  mail  boats. 

These  vessels  were  not  regular  men-of-war,  and 
they  did  not  take  their  prizes  into  port  for  adju- 
dication, as  is  usual  in  war,  always  burning  what 
they  could  catch  and  capture.  However,  during 
war  I  suppose  all  must  be  considered  as  fair  play. 

While  on  the  subject,  I  will  recount  one  or  two 
exploits  performed  by  these  enterprising  mail 
boats.  When  lying  off  Sulina,  one  of  the  iron- 
clad corvettes  under  my  command  arrived  from 
Constantinople,  where  her  captain  reported  having 
chased  a  well-known  Russian  mail  steamer  called 
the  Vesta;  that  they  had  exchanged  a  few  shots; 


222  HOBART  PASHA 

that  he  had  not  followed  her  because  his  deck  was 
loaded  with  guns  for  the  Sulina  batteries.  I 
thought  no  more  about  it  till  about  a  fortnight 
afterwards  I  saw  in  the  Times  a  paragraph 
headed,  "  Turkish  ironclad  driven  off  and  nearly 
destroyed  by  the  Russian  mail  boat  cruiser  Vesta. 
This  paragraph,  which  was  founded  on  the  official 
report  of  the  captain  of  the  Vesta,  was  almost 
sensational.  It  gave  a  graphic  description  of  how 
the  Vesta  had  engaged  at  close  quarters  a  Turkish 
ironclad,  killing  her  crew ;  how  officers  in  European 
uniform  had  been  seen  directing  the  working  of 
the  ironclad's  guns,  &c. ;  how  her  sides  were  crim- 
son with  the  torrents  of  blood  pouring  from  her 
decks,  and  how  she  would  have  been  surely  cap- 
tured had  the  Vesta  been  provided  with  sufficient 
ammunition  to  enable  her  to  continue  the  bloody 
fight.  It  added  that  the  gallant  Russian  com- 
mander was  received  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm 
on  his  arriving  at  Sebastopol,  and  immediately 
promoted  to  high  rank  and  covered  with  decora- 
tions. 

I  could  hardly  believe  my  eyes  when  I  read  this 
utter  nonsense.  I  know  the  Russians ;  they  are 
brave  and  loyal  fellows,  and  few  indeed  are  there 
among  them  who  have  done  (to  say  the  least  of 
it)  so  foolish  an  act  as  to  make  so  unfounded  a 
report. 


WAR  WITH  RUSSIA  223 

However,  the  commander,  whose  name  I  will  not 
mention,  did  not  long  wear  his  laurels.  I  sup- 
pose he  trusted  to  the  Turks  saying  nothing  about 
it ;  but  the  truth  was  at  last  made  public.  A  court- 
martial  was  assembled  to  try  the  case,  and  I  be- 
lieve he  was  dismissed  from  the  service  and  de- 
prived of  his  decorations.  At  all  events  I  know 
for  certain  that  he  was  disgraced  by  his  superiors, 
and  held  up  to  ridicule  by  his  brother  officers. 
Served  him  right!  Swagger  is  always  an  error, 
and  I  don't  think  naval  officers  are  generally  given 
to  it. 

The  next  exploit  of  these  cruisers  I  shall  refer  to 
was  one  that  came  under  my  own  eyes,  and  was 
exceedingly  interesting.  ' 

I  was  anchored  with  my  flag-ship,  a  fine  thirteen 
knot  ironclad,  and  a  couple  of  other  vessels,  at 
a  port  some  few  miles  to  the  north  of  Varna,  tak- 
ing in  coals,  when  the  look-out  man  reported  that 
_he  saw  on  the  horizon  a  column  of  smoke.  I  knew 
that  this  was  not  a  Russian  cruiser,  because  these 
vessels  always  burnt  smokeless  coal.  I  guessed, 
however,  what  it  was ;  namely,  that  one  of  the  Rus- 
sian cruisers  was  burning  an  unfortunate  coasting 
vessel.  On  looking  more  closely  from,  the  mast- 
head of  the  flag-ship,  I  saw  the  masts  and  two 
funnels  of  a  steamer  very  near  to  the  burning  ship. 
The  cruiser  was  somewhat  inshore  of  the  place 


224  HOBART  PASHA 

where  I  was  lying.  He  seems  to  have  made  my 
squadron  out  about  the  same  time  I  had  seen  him, 
and  at  once  made  tracks,  as  the  Americans  say,  to 
get  out  to  sea.  In  doing  so  he  had  to  near  us 
considerably,  so  much  so  that  before  steam  was 
ready  in  the  flag-ship  I  could  pretty  well  discern 
what  the  enemy  was.  Some  persons  may  be  sur- 
prised to  hear  that  the  marauding  vessel  was  no 
less  a  craft  than  the  magnificent  yacht  of  the  Em- 
peror of  All  the  Russias,  called  the  Livadia,  which 
had  condescended  to  the  somewhat  undignified 
work  of  capturing  small  Turkish  coasting  craft. 
Who  can  fancy  the  Victoria  and  Albert  being  sent 
to  sea,  during  a  war  between  England  and  France, 
to  capture  and  destroy  small  coasting  craft  on  the 
French  shores!  However,  there  was  the  fact;  it 
was  the  Livadia,  and  no  mistake.  And  now  com- 
menced one  of  the  most  interesting  chases  I  have 
ever  seen.  On  our  starting  the  yacht  was  about 
four  miles  ahead  of  us,  steering  a  course  that 
would  take  her  straight  to  Sebastopol.  She  had 
got  through  all  the  necessary  dangerous  manoeuvre 
of  crossing  our  bows,  from  her  having  been  inshore 
of  us,  before  we  moved. 

The  weather  was  lovely,  not  a  ripple  on  the 
water,  dead  calm. 

We  commenced  the  chase  at  4 :30  P.  M.  Un- 
fortunately our  decks  were  loaded  with  coal ;  how- 


WAR  WITH  RUSSIA  225 

ever,  we  made  a  clean  thirteen  knots.  At  first  it 
seemed  as  if  we  were  coming  up  with  the  chase ;  so 
much  so  that  I  felt  inclined  to  fire  the  long  bow 
gun  at  her.  But  I  always  think  and  I  say,  from 
blockade-running  experience,  that  firing  more  or 
less  injures  a  vessel's  speed;  so  I  refrained  from  do- 
ing so.  As  night  closed  in,  a  beautiful  moon  rose 
and  made  everything  as  clear  as  day.  The  equal- 
ity of  our  speed  was  most  remarkable,  insomuch  as 
the  distance  between  us  did  not  vary  a  hundred 
yards  in  an  hour.  All  night  we  were  watching, 
measuring  distances  with  nautical  instruments,  &c., 
hoping  at  moments  that  we  were  nearer,  despairing 
at  others  that  she  was  gaining  from  us.  We  threw 
overboard  fifty  or  sixty  tons  of  coal,  to  no  avail; 
we  could  not  get  within  shot  of  the  Livadia,  to 
capture  which  I  would  have  given  all  I  possessed. 
As  day  broke  we  saw  the  crew  of  the  Livadia  busily 
employed  throwing  overboard  coal  and  water. 
Sebastopol  was  in  sight,  and  she  was  running  for 
dear  life  to  that  haven  of  safety.  Lightening  her 
had  certainly  a  good  effect,  for  it  was  sadly  evi- 
dent to  me  that  on  doing  so  she  drew  ahead  a  little, 
but  very  little.  Now  I  hoped  she  would  burst  her 
boiler  or  break  down  ever  so  little;  but  so  it  was 
not  fated,  and  the  Emperor's  yacht  escaped  by 
the  skin  of  her  teeth  into  Sebastopol,  under  the 
protection  of  batteries  that  opened  a  tremendous 


226  HOBART  PASHA 

fire  on  my  ship  on  my  approaching,  forgetful  of 
their  existence:  I  was  obliged  to  clear  out  of  that 
pretty  sharply  or  we  should  have  been  sunk. 

An  ironclad  corvette  that  accompanied  me, 
though  some  miles  astern  at  the  finish,  ran  so  close 
in  that  she  had  her  rudder  shot  away,  and  we  had 
the  unpleasant  task  of  towing  her  out  under  a 
fire  more  like  a  hailstorm  of  shot  and  shell  than 
anything  I  can  compare  it  to.  I  am  told  the 
Livadia  would  have  shown  fight.  I  have  no  doubt 
she  would ;  Russians  always  fight  well :  but  I  think 
the  result  would  not  have  been  doubtful,  and  the 
Emperor's  crockery  and  glass,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  magnificent  gettings-up  in  the  cabins,  would 
have  lost  much  of  their  lustre  during  an  engage- 
ment. So  the  glory  of  taking  the  Emperor's 
yacht  into  the  Bosphorus  was  not  to  be  mine.  I 
cannot  express  my  disappointment  at  losing  such  a 
chance.  The  only  consolation  I  have  is  that  I 
really  believe  the  brave  Russians  would  have  blown 
her  up,  rather  than  allow  such  a  disgrace  to  fall 
on  their  flag. 

Since  the  war  a  Russian  naval  officer  told  me 
that  he  had  under  his  command  at  Sebastopol,  on 
the  day  of  my  chasing  the  Livadia  into  that  port, 
seven  torpedo  boats,  with  which  he  volunteered  to 
go  out  and  attack  us.  His  request  was  not  al- 
lowed. We  discussed  at  some  length  the  probable 


WAR  WITH  RUSSIA  227 

result.  These  are  my  views  and  arguments.  I 
said  to  him,  "  When  I  saw  your  boats  coming  out 
I  should  have  steamed  away.  Now  the  speed  of 
my  frigate  is  thirteen  knots.  You  would  prob- 
ably have  had  a  speed  of  nineteen  to  twenty  at 
most.  Thus  your  rate  of  approaching  me  would 
have  been  six  knots,  no  great  speed  with  which  to 
approach  a  vessel  armed  with  Nordenfelt  guns, 
and  six  other  guns  also,  en  barbette,  firing  grape, 
shell,  &c.  I  am  convinced  we  should  have  de- 
stroyed all  the  torpedo  boats."  "  Well,  then," 
said  the  Russian  officer,  "  I  should  have  followed 
and  attacked  you  during  the  night."  "  There 
again,"  I  said,  "  I  think  you  would  have  failed, 
because  before  dark  you  could  not  have  got  near 
enough  to  me,  on  account  of  the  opposition  you 
would  have  met  with  from  my  fire,  to  remark  the 
course  I  steered  after  sunset,  which  course  I  should 
have  frequently  changed  during  the  darkness.  A 
ship  cannot  be  seen  in  the  dark,  if  she  shows  no 
light,  at  more  than  five  hundred  yards'  distance, 
and  a  moving  ship  would  have  been  most  difficult 
to  hit;  besides  which,  if  I  had  stopped  and  put 
down  my  defences,  what  could  you  have  done  ?  " 
This  discussion  ended  in  the  Russian  officer  ad- 
mitting that  he  did  not  think  he  could  have  done 
much. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


TO  return  to  the  doings  of  the  Turkish  fleet 
in  the  Black  Sea  during  the  war:  Sulina 
was  a  point  from  the  beginning  always 
aimed  at  by  the  Russians.  In  fact,  according  to 
my  humble  ideas,  Russia  went  to  war  to  get  pos- 
session of  Bessarabia,  the  key  of  the  Danube,  and 
Batoum,  the  key  to  Asia  Minor,  and  in  a  great 
measure  to  our  Indian  possessions.  I  think  the 
sentimental  story  of  massacres  in  Bulgaria  was 
merely  a  blind  whereby  to  catch  the  sympathetic 
support  of  Europe,  and  more  especially  the  Eng- 
lish philanthropists.  I  think  this,  because  when 
the  most  awful  cruelties  were  committed  by  the 
Bulgarians  on  the  Turks  after  the  war,  we  heard 
-no  outcry  about  massacres.  However,  I  must  not 
introduce  politics  into  "  Sketches  "  from  a  sailor's 
life;  such  would  be  out  of  place.  Constant  at- 
tacks were  made  by  land  and  by  sea  on  Sulina, 
which  was  held  and  defended  by  Turkish  ships 
and  their  crews,  who  manned  the  small  batteries 
they  had  planted  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  To 
228 


THE  TURKISH  FLEET  229 

the  Russians,  to  destroy  the  Turkish  squadron 
lying  off  that  port  was  of  great  importance,  as 
Sulina  is  entirely  surrounded  by  water  and  great 
impassable  marshes,  which  extend  far  inland, 
through  which  marshes  the  Danube  runs,  and  thus 
can  always  be  defended  by  ships. 

The  Turkish  squadron  generally  consisted  of 
five  or  six  ironclads,  and  as  the  Russians  had  not 
ships  wherewith  to  attack  these  ironclads,  torpedo 
attacks  (of  which  so  much  was  and  is  expected) 
were  their  only  chance. 

My  idea  of  defending  these  vessels  when  at 
anchor  was  by  a  cordon  of  guard-boats,  with  ropes 
made  fast  between  them,  so  as  to  catch  any  at- 
tacking torpedo  boat,  either  by  fouling  her  screw 
as  she  advanced,  or  by  stopping  entirely  her  prog- 
ress. Moreover,  a  torpedo  boat  thus  stopped 
would,  by  catching  the  rope,  draw  the  guard-boat 
on  either  side  of  her,  or  right  on  top  of  her.  I 
must  admit  that  while  torpedoes  at  that  time  were 
supposed  to  be  in  their  infancy,  the  defence  pre- 
pared against  their  attack  was  also  very  much  in 
its  infancy,  so  these  preparations  were  of  the  most 
primitive  description. 

The  squadron,  as  I  said,  consisted  of  five  ves- 
sels, which  had  been  in  the  habit  of  standing  out 
to  sea  every  night,  to  avoid  torpedo  attacks.  On 
the  occasion  I  am  writing  about,  they  had  returned 


230  HOBART  PASHA 

to  the  anchorage  on  account  of  bad  weather.  A 
Russian  steamer  with  five  torpedo  boats  in  tow 
started  (as  we  afterwards  learnt)  from  Odessa  to 
hunt  for  the  Turkish  squadron,  which,  it  was 
known  to  them  through  their  spies,  was  in  the 
habit  of  cruising  off  Serpent's  Island,  about  eight 
miles  from  Odessa.  The  Muscovites  were  unable 
to  find  their  enemy,  and  I  don't  wonder  at  it,  for 
they  were  not  in  their  usual  cruising  ground ;  even 
had  they  been  there,  to  find  them  would  have  been 
difficult,  as  the  Turkish  ships  always  cruised  in 
open  order,  burnt  smokeless  coal,  and  showed  no 
lights.  On  being  disappointed  in  finding  what  she 
wanted  at  sea,  the  Russian  vessel  steamed  towards 
the  anchorage  off  Sulina.  As  the  weather  was 
bad,  her  commander  decided  not  to  attack,  and 
I  fancy  had  to  cast  off  his  torpedo  boats. 

One  of  these  boats,  if  not  more  (I  have  never 
been  able  to  ascertain  precisely  what  happened  to 
the  five  torpedo  boats  that  left  Odessa),  made  a 
dash  at  the  Turkish  squadron;  the  weather  not 
permitting  him  to  use  his  Whitehead,  he  decided 
to  try  what  his  pole  torpedo  would  do.  As  he 
approached  the  headmost  vessel,  he  found  (as  he 
explained  afterwards  to  me)  that  something 
stopped  his  way,  and  he  saw  at  the  same  time  sev- 
eral black  objects  approaching  him.  Nothing 
daunted,  he  struggled  to  get  close  to  the  bows  of 


THE  TURKISH  FLEET  231 

the  ironclad ;  when  he  got  as  near  as  he  could  man- 
age he  fired  his  torpedo,  without,  however,  doing 
any  harm  to  his  enemy.  Scarcely  had  he  done 
this  when  he  found  himself  in  the  water  and  his 
boat  gone  from  under  him:  the  real  facts  being 
that  the  black  objects  he  had  seen  were  the  guard- 
boats,  which  were  closing  on  him,  the  ropes  that 
connected  them  together  having  fouled  his  screw, 
and  caused  the  disaster ;  his  boat  was  capsized  and 
went  to  the  bottom.  Four  or  five  of  her  crew  were 
drowned,  as  he  would  have  been,  had  he  not  been 
fished  out  of  the  water  by  the  Turkish  guard-boats, 
and  made  prisoner. 

The  name  of  this  daring  naval  officer  was  Put- 
skin.  His  cool  courage  was  very  amusing.  When 
interrogated,  while  still  in  a  half-drowned  condi- 
tion, he  exclaimed  in  excellent  English,  "  Why  the 
devil  didn't  I  blow  that  ship  up  ?  "  He  was  asked 
if  he  had  any  idea  what  stopped  him,  and  it  was 
suggested  to  him  that  something  must  have  fouled 
his  screw.  He  answered,  "  I  don't  know  what 
stopped  me,  but  why  the  devil  didn't  I  blow  the 
ship  up?  "  I  told  him  that  I  had  a  sort  of  notion 
he  might  be  hanged  for  using  such  a  fearful 
weapon.  He  said,  "  No  brave  man  would  hang 
me ;  but  why,"  &c. 

He  seemed  to  have  only  one  idea,  and  that  was 
he  was  a  fool  for  having  failed.  He  was  too  good 


232  HOBART  PASHA 

a  man  to  let  go,  so  we  kept  him  till  nearly  the 
end  of  the  war. 

Wherever  he  may  be  now  he  is  a  fine  fellow, 
whose  bravery  I  for  one  shan't  forget  in  a  hurry. 

A  short  time  after  the  above-named  occurrence 
the  Russians  attempted  an  attack  upon  Sulina  by 
land  and  water,  with  what  object  I  have  never 
been  able  to  understand ;  as,  if  they  had  succeeded, 
they  could  not  have  held  it  so  long  as  our  ships 
were  anchored  in  the  offing.  Perhaps  their  inten- 
tion was,  by  driving  us  out  of  the  river,  to  utilise 
its  position  for  torpedo  attacks. 

I  have  explained  that  Sulina  was  surrounded  by 
sea  and  vast  marshes.  Along  the  seashore  there 
was  a  narrow  causeway  of  sand,  on  which  ten  men 
could  march  abreast.  The  only  other  approaches 
were  by  sea  and  by  the  river,  the  latter,  at  about 
ten  miles  distance,  being  in  the  hands  of  the  Rus- 
sians. As  a  defence  we  had  placed  on  the  beach, 
at  about  a  gunshot's  distance,  several  torpedoes, 
buried  in  the  sand,  and  connected  by  electric  wires 
with  the  batteries  of  Sulina.  A  simultaneous 
movement  was  made  by  three  or  four  Russian  gun- 
boats descending  the  river,  and  two  regiments  of 
troops  accompanied  by  artillery  were  sent  along 
the  causeway.  Suspecting  something  in  regard  to 
torpedoes,  they  drove  before  them  as  a  sort  of 


THE  TURKISH  FLE^T 


233 


advance  guard  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  horses 
without  riders,  it  being  the  duty  of  the  poor 
animals  to  take  the  shock  of  the  explosion  should 
torpedoes  be  placed  on  the  beach.  And  so  they 
did,  for,  on  the  horses  passing  the  spot  where  the 
torpedoes  were  placed,  an  explosion  took  place 
through  which  several  horses  were  killed.  The 
rest  turned  right  back,  and  the  causeway  being 
very  narrow,  dashed  amongst  the  advancing  troops, 
causing  the  greatest  confusion,  so  much  so  that 
the  whole  party  had  to  retreat  and  we  saw  them 
no  more. 

It  is  true  that  one  of  the  small  ironclads  had 
about  got  the  range  of  the  advancing  enemy  along 
the  sea-beach,  so  making  their  position  rather  pre- 
carious, but  I  believe  that  the  real  cause  of  the 
failure  was  the  action  of  the  horses. 

In  the  meantime,  the  light  draft  Russian  gun- 
boats came  down  the  river,  and  began  to  fire  shell 
and  shot  at  a  long  range  at  the  small  town  and 
fortifications  of  Sulina.  This  was  answered  by  the 
temporary  batteries  alone,  the  ships  being  out  of 
range.  Desultory  fighting  went  on  for  about 
twenty-four  hours,  when  the  Russians,  finding  the 
hopelessness  of  the  enterprise,  especially  now  that 
the  troops  had  retired,  gave  it  up  as  a  bad  job 
and  steamed  up  the  Danube  again.  This  was  the 


234  HOBART  PASHA 

only  serious  attack  made  upon  Sulina,  which  Rus- 
sia could  never  have  taken  and  held  till  she  had 
destroyed  the  Turkish  fleet. 

After  this  I  went  to  Batoum,  which  place  Der- 
vish Pasha  was  gallantly  holding  against  Russia. 
He  was  sadly  in  want  of  naval  help,  as  the  Rus- 
sians had  advanced  by  the  sea-shore  to  within  six 
miles  of  that  much-coveted  port.  On  arriving 
there  I  took  the  command  of  eight  Turkish  ships 
of  war,  besides  transports  that  were  constantly 
coming  and  going  between  Constatinople  and 
Batoum  with  provisions,  ammunition,  &c.,  for  the 
army  and  navy.  Here,  again,  if  the  Russians 
could  have  disposed  of  the  Turkish  fleet  they  would 
have  easily  taken  Batoum.  By  commanding  the 
sea,  even  with  a  couple  of  vessels,  they  would  have 
prevented  supplies  being  sent.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered there  was  no  way  of  supporting  the  soldiers 
and  sailors  except  by  sea.  My  first  object  was  to 
drive  the  Russians,  by  the  fire  of  the  ships,  more 
inland.  This  was  easy  enough,  as  of  course  the 
enemy  had  no  guns  with  them  to  compare  in  range 
with  those  on  board  the  ironclads.  Some  time 
after  my  arrival,  however,  they  brought  down  two 
fifteen  centimetre  Krupp  guns  from  Ardahan,  guns 
that  had  a  considerably  longer  range  than  our 
twelve-ton  Armstrongs.  They  gave  us  some  trou- 
ble; however,  the  position  of  the  attacking  camp 


THE  TURKISH  FLEET  235 

was  changed  so  as  to  be  out  of  range  of  our  guns, 
a  move  in  every  way  satisfactory  to  the  Turkish 
military  commander. 

This  action  of  our  fleet  gave  great  annoyance 
to  the  enemy,  and  it  was  determined  if  possible  to 
make  our  lying  at  Batoum  a  dangerous  if  not  im- 
possible matter.  This  was  to  be  done  by  the  so- 
called  almighty  torpedo.  I  received  notice  from 
our  secret  agent  at  Sebastopol  that  a  serious  ex- 
pedition was  being  organised,  that  the  Turkish 
ships  at  Batoum  were  to  be  destroyed  or  fright- 
ened away  at  any  cost.  Frightened  away,  indeed! 
To  the  uninitiated  a  torpedo  is  a  thing  to  frighten 
any  one  away.  We  had  heard  of  magnificent  re- 
sults of  torpedo  trials  in  peace,  how  ships  (I 
fancy  only  hulks)  had  been  blown  up,  columns  of 
water  half  a  mile  high  being  sent  into  the  air,  &c. 
Nothing,  it  was  said,  could  save  you.  Whatever 
my  ideas,  however  nervous  I  may  have  felt,  I  knew 
that  those  I  was  commanding  had  no  fear  —  they 
don't  know  what  it  means,  the  more  especially  of 
a  not  understood  possible  casualty ;  and  though  I 
was  more  enlightened  as  to  torpedoes  and  their  ac- 
cepted effects,  I  wasn't  to  show  my  people  a  bad 
example.  When  lying  in  bed  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  having  read  the  warning  letter  before  re- 
tiring, I  thought :  — "  Suppose  one  of  these  nasty 
things  goes  off  and  blows  the  flagship  up  at  this 


236  HOBART  PASHA 

moment.  How  pleasant!  What  cowardly  things 
these  are;  no  fair  fight,  up  you  go,  unshriven.  I 
have  heard  that  a  man  who  is  hanged  is  likely  to 
go  to  heaven;  I  wonder  if  the  same  chance  would 
be  given  to  him  blown  up  by  a  torpedo  ?  "  This 
sort  of  feelings  came  over  me.  However,  said  I, 
"  Let  us  see  if  we  can  prevent  their  being 
realised ;  "  so  I  went  to  work  to  try  to  do  so.  As 
a  sportsman  I  calculated  that  to  fire  at  a  dark 
object  in  the  night,  especially  when  that  object 
had  a  background  of  high  hills  such  as  we  had  at 
Batoum,  was  most  difficult,  so  the  first  order  I 
gave  was  no  lights,  not  even  a  cigarette  light ;  utter 
darkness  under  severe  penalties.  Next,  consider- 
ing that  Batoum  is  a  very  small  port,  with  an 
entrance  difficult  to  find  even  in  broad  daylight, 
almost  impossible  in  the  night  without  the  light- 
house as  a  guide,  I  ordered  that  the  lighthouse 
should  not  be  lighted.  Then  I  arranged  with  the 
shore  authorities  that  no  lights  should  be  seen  in 
the  town ;  this  was  more  difficult,  as  there  were 
many  Russian  friendlies  in  Batoum. 

However,  the  application  of  somewhat  severe 
discipline  made  Batoum  like  a  city  of  the  dead 
after  dark. 

In  addition  to  these  precautions  I  put  a  barrier 
of  booms  ahead  of  the  ships  lying  in  the  port, 
placed  guard-boats  to  watch  it  at  the  entrance 


THE  TURKISH  FLEET  237 

of  the  harbor,  and  having  done  all  this,  I  bided  my 
time.  For  some  nights,  rather  sleepless  to  me, 
though  to  my  disgust  I  heard  my  officers  snoring 
all  round  me,  nothing  happened  (though,  as  I 
heard  afterwards,  a  good  deal  had  been  going  on 
outside  the  harbor),  when,  at  about  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning  of  the  third  or  fourth  night  after 
I  had  received  the  warning,  I  heard  a  row  going 
on  in  the  direction  of  the  guard-boats  and  an  ex- 
plosion near  to  one  of  the  outlying  ships.  I  had 
hardly  time  to  think,  when  something  struck  the 
chain  of  my  flagship  and  seemed  to  spin  past,  like 
a  fish  in  the  water.  Then  dead  silence.  I  im- 
mediately sent  orders  to  the  two  fast  cruisers, 
which  were  lying  with  steam  up,  to  go  to  sea  and 
reconnoitre. 

Suddenly  I  heard  people  on  shore  calling  out  (I 
forgot  to  mention  that  ships  in  Batoum  harbor 
are  always  lashed  to  the  shore).  I  sent  my  officer 
to  reconnoitre,  who  found  a  gaping  crowd  stand- 
ing round  what  they  thought  was  a  large  fish  lash- 
ing his  tail,  but  what  in  reality  was  an  unexploded 
torpedo  with  the  screw  still  in  motion. 

On  things  being  calm  I  went  myself  to  see  what 
had  happened  generally  during  the  attack,  and 
found  that  a  torpedo  had  struck  the  bows  of  one 
of  the  ironclads  on  the  belt,  at  the  waterline  at 
an  angle,  had  exploded,  and  scarcely  left  a  mark; 


238  HOBART  PASHA 

that  a  second  torpedo  had,  after  passing  through 
the  planks  on  the  defensive  barrier  I  had  placed, 
diverged  from  its  course,  and  gone  quietly  on  shore 
as  far  as  the  left  of  the  squadron;  that  a  third, 
as  I  said,  had  struck  the  chain  of  the  flagship  and 
not  gone  off,  but  had  run  on  to  the  beach.  The 
parts  of  another  torpedo  were  afterwards  picked 
up,  it  evidently  having  exploded  somewhere  down 
below.  So  we  could  account  for  four  torpedoes 
having  been  fired  at  us  without  effect;  probably 
there  were  more.  Those  that  were  on  the  beach 
were  in  a  very  perfect  state,  and  as  soon  as  we 
had  rendered  them  harmless,  we  made  prisoners  of 
war  of  them. 

Now  I  have  been  since  informed  of  what 
went  on  outside  Batoum.  It  seems  that  for  three 
nights  two  fast  Russian  steamers,  carrying  tor- 
pedo boats,  had  been  looking  for  Batoum,  and 
as  one  of  my  informants  said,  "  We  could  not  find 
it  for  love  or  money."  A  couple  of  hours  before 
daylight  they  had  steamed  off,  so  as  to  be  out  of 
sight  before  break  of  day.  At  last  they  had 
bribed  a  man  to  light  a  fire  in  the  hills  behind  the 
town,  and  so  on  the  fourth  night  they  got  some- 
where near  it,  but  they  could  not  make  out  the 
ships  on  account  of  the  dark  land  behind  them. 
The  time  for  steaming  off  having  nearly  come,  they 
determined  to  have  a  shot  at  us,  so  fired  five  tor- 


THE  TURKISH  FLEET  239 

pedoes  into  what  they  thought  the  centre  of  the 
Turkish  fleet,  with  what  result  we  have  seen.  The 
person  who  told  me  was  one  of  them,  and  said  it 
was  sickening  work  looking  for  Batoum.  It  is 
true  the  nights  were  fearfully  dark,  so  that  the 
shape  of  the  land  could  not  be  made  out.  He  said 
that  without  the  traitor's  light  they  could  not 
have  found  us. 

I  am  not  saying  by  this  that  one  should  always 
trust  to  darkness ;  there  are  many  other  ways  now 
of  taking  the  sting  out  of  torpedo  attacks.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  the  steamers  I  sent  out  re- 
turned, having  seen  nothing.  While  the  fleet  was 
at  Batoum,  two  or  three  more  torpedo  attacks 
were  made  on  a  smaller  scale  without  effect;  but 
I  have  bored  my  readers  enough  about  torpedoes 
—  all  I  know  is  that  I  can  sleep  now  when  in  their 
vicinity.  While  in  the  Black  Sea  I  several  times 
went  with  two  or  three  ships  that  could  be  spared 
from  other  duties  and  reconnoitred  Sebastopol 
and  Odessa,  but  being  fully  convinced  of  the  help- 
lessness of  few  or  even  of  many  ships  against  the 
heavy  batteries  of  the  present  day,  I  did.no  more 
than  look  about  me,  occasionally  exchanging  shots 
with  the  enemy. 

As  to  burning  defenceless  towns  and  villages,  I 
have  always  been  thoroughly  adverse  to  such 
things,  so  I  never  undertook  it.  Some  people 


240  HOBART  PASHA 

think  war  should  be  made  as  horrible  as  possible ; 
in  this  I  do  not  agree.  I  could  easily  have  burnt 
the  Emperor's  palace  at  Yalta,  but  did  not  think 
it  expedient  to  do  so. 

I  have  already  spoken  in  general  terms  of  the 
great  services  rendered  by  the  ironclads  in  moving 
the  troops  about,  but  I  feel  that,  in  justice  to  the 
gallant  crews  of  the  squadron  I  had  the  honor  to 
command  during  the  war,  I  ought  not  to  bring  this 
portion  of  my  narrative  to  a  close  without  mention- 
ing more  particularly  a  piece  of  work  of  that 
nature  executed  under  my  immediate  direction. 

The  capture  of  Soukhoum-Kaleh  had  been  fol- 
lowed up  by  the  despatch  of  an  expedition  of  some 
4,000  men  of  all  arms  to  a  place  some  thirty  miles 
down  the  coast,  called  Tchamchira.  The  military 
commander  at  Soukhoum  had  some  idea,  I  believe, 
that  this  force  would  be  able  to  make  its  way  in- 
land, and  thus  encourage  risings  amongst  the  tribes 
against  the  detested  Muscovite  rule.  The  country, 
however,  was  too  unfavorable  for  the  advance  of 
invading  troops,  being  swampy  ground  with  thick 
bush  where  it  was  not  an  impenetrable  forest. 
The  Russians  also  got  wind  of  the  intended  move- 
ment, and  to  make  a  long  story  short,  had  managed 
to  collect  a  large  opposing  force.  The  expedition 
was  landed,  but  that  is  all.  Before  much  could 
be  done  to  secure  the  position  as  a  base  —  whilst 


THE  TURKISH  FLEET  241 

the  men  in  fact  were  making  entrenchments  —  the 
Russians,  who  under  cover  of  the  forest  that  ex- 
tended right  down  to  the  beach  on  either  side  had 
been  stealthily  making  their  preparations,  at- 
tacked them  on  all  sides,  and  but  for  the  covering 
fire  of  the  ironclads,  fortunately  still  at  anchor 
there,  would  undoubtedly  have  driven  them  into 
the  sea. 

The  result  of  this  action  enabled  the  force  to 
establish  itself  in  the  village,  and  hold  possession 
of  the  small  belt  of  cleared  ground  around  it,  the 
extreme  limit  of  which  was  still  within  the  range 
of  the  guns  of  the  ironclads. 

The  position  of  this  force,  however,  daily  grew 
worse.  The  Russians  had  captured  the  fords,  by 
which  their  retreat  to  Soukhoum  was  cut  off. 
They  were  completely  surrounded,  and  only  owed 
their  preservation  to  the  continual  presence  of 
an  ironclad.  Under  these  circumstances  it  was 
thought  advisable  to  withdraw  the  men,  and  Derv- 
ish Pasha  entrusted  me  with  the  task.  To  give 
an  idea  of  the  precarious  position  of  this  force, 
I  may  mention  that,  as  I  approached  the  place  in 
my  flagship,  we  heard  the  sound  of  smart  can- 
nonading, and  I  found  the  guard-ship  engaged 
with  a  battery  of  field-pieces.  The  Russians  had 
recently  received  a  large  accession  of  force,  and 
several  field-guns  of  large  calibre ;  and  so,  not 


HOBART  PASHA 

tent  with  troubling  the  camp  daily  with  an  enfilad- 
ing fire,  had  thought  to  try  conclusions  with  the 
heavy  guns  afloat.  On  our  appearance  the  action 
ceased,  the  Russians  withdrawing  their  battery 
into  the  safe  shelter  of  the  forest.  The  Russian 
fire  had  been  well  directed,  and  had  the  guns  been 
of  heavier  calibre,  considerable  damage  would  have 
been  inflicted.  As  it  was,  the  upper  works  and 
rigging  were  cut  about  a  great  deal,  and  two  men 
killed  and  four  wounded  on  board  the  ironclad. 

After  a  conference  with  the  general  in  command, 
I  proceeded  to  Soukhoum  to  make  arrangements  for 
transport.  I  had  hardly  arrived  there  when  a 
message  from  Tchamchira  arrived,  urgently  de- 
manding assistance,  as  the  Russians  were  advanc- 
ing in  great  force.  I  hurried  back  with  all  the 
vessels  I  could  collect  to  Tchamchira,  three  iron- 
clad corvettes  and  two  wooden  paddle-wheel  trans- 
ports. Fortunately  the  Russian  attack  had  not 
commenced,  and  the  arrival  of  my  squadron  prob- 
ably led  to  its  postponement  until  too  late.  To 
remove  4,000  men,  bag  and  baggage,  with  several 
batteries  of  field-pieces  and  a  large  amount  of  am- 
munition, was  no  easy  task  with  the  small  amount 
of  transport  at  my  command.  I  made,  however, 
what  I  considered  to  be  the  best  disposition  pos- 
sible under  the  circumstances. 

The  corvettes  and  the  paddle  transports  were 


THE  TURKISH  FLEET  243 

moored  in  as  close  to  the  shore  as  possible,  my 
intention  being  to  cram  them  with  men  and  stores 
first,  leaving  my  flagship  free  to  the  last  to  ma- 
nreuvre  off  the  Russian  camp  and  shell  it,  should 
the  slightest  opposition  be  offered  to  the  embarka- 
tion. The  work  commenced  at  daylight,  and  was 
actively  carried  on  throughout  the  day  and  follow- 
ing night,  the  last  batch  of  men  coming  off  at 
dawn.  The  men  were  taken  away  from  under  the 
very  teeth,  as  it  were,  of  the  Russians.  The  ships 
in  shore  were  well  within  rifle  range,  and  the  boats 
passing  to  and  fro  were  exposed  the  whole  time  to 
a  fire  from  hidden  foes.  The  enemy  had  been  evi- 
dently overawed  by  my  preparations,  and  doubt- 
less thought  it  would  be  better  for  them  to  allow 
the  invading  force  to  retire  unopposed. 

To  avoid  the  chance  of  grounding,  in  case  I 
should  have  to  use  the  frigate  fire  to  cover  the 
embarkation,  a  volunteer  crew  had  proceeded  off 
the  Russian  camp  during  the  night,  and  laid  down 
a  line  of  buoys,  to  show  the  limit  of  distance  to 
which  the  shore  might  be  approached  with  safety. 
These  buoys,  glistening  in  the  sunlight,  doubtless 
suggested  to  the  Russians  that  something  dreadful 
was  in  store  for  them  if  they  attempted  to  fire  a 
gun,  and  so  they  contented  themselves  with  watch- 
ing from  the  trees,  amongst  the  branches  of  which 
we  saw  a  number  of  them  perched  like  so  many 


244  HOBART  PASHA 

birds  of  prey.  The  whole  credit  of  the  embarka- 
tion is  due  to  the  efficient  manner  in  which  the 
naval  officers  under  my  command  carried  out  the 
instructions  given  them,  and  the  great  docility  of 
the  Turkish  soldiers.  Soon  after  sunset  the  gen- 
eral and  staff  left  the  shore,  and  their  example 
was  followed  by  every  military  officer  of  any  rank ; 
so  that  the  whole  work  devolved  upon  those  I  had 
placed  in  command  of  the  beach  and  the  boats. 

The  men  marched  down  quietly  by  themselves 
and  everything  went  on  like  clockwork.  I  must 
confess  that  I  passed  a  most  anxious  night,  as  I 
knew  not  but  what  at  any  moment  the  enemy  might 
make  a  rush  into  the  entrenchments  the  Turks  were 
abandoning,  in  order  to  claim  a  victory.  My  own 
ship  was  getting  lumbered  up,  and  I  knew  that 
before  long  it  would  be  impossible  to  work  more 
than  one  or  two  of  the  guns  in  case  of  need.  That 
the  Russians,  however,  could  not  know  this,  was 
my  comfort;  but  I  must  own  that  it  was  a  great 
relief  to  me  when  the  last  detachment  left  the  shore. 
The  poor  fellows  had  been  holding  the  outposts 
all  night.  They  came  in  at  the  double,  and  little 
time  was  lost  over  their  embarkation. 

We  steamed  off  at  once  to  Soukhoum,  and  there 
disembarked  the  expedition.  Shortly  after  this  I 
was  called  upon  to  prepare  for  a  veritable  exodus. 
The  evacuation  of  Soukhoum  had  been  decided 


THE  TURKISH  FLEET  245 

upon,  but  His  Imperial  Majesty  felt  that  the  poor 
people,  who  had  been  expecting  a  permanent  de- 
liverance from  the  Russian  yoke,  could  not  be  aban- 
doned to  those  whose  vengeance  they  had  excited. 
Intimation  was  therefore  given  that  all  those  de- 
sirous of  leaving  the  country  should  be  carried  to 
Turkish  territory,  and  provided  with  lands  to 
form  new  settlements.  The  whole  population 
pretty  well  made  up  its  mind  to  leave,  and  came 
marching  into  Soukhoum  with  their  flocks  and 
herds,  and  household  goods  and  chattels.  Suffice 
it  to  say  that,  with  the  vessels  under  my  command, 
I  shipped  off  and  landed  at  Batoum,  Trebizonde, 
Sinope,  and  other  ports  on  the  Turkish  coast  some- 
thing like  50,000  people,  counting  men,  women, 
and  children,  within  the  space  of  a  fortnight. 


CHAPTER!  XX 

SPORT  IN  TUKKEY 

I  WILL  now  endeavor  to  give  my  readers  some 
idea  of  life  at  Constantinople.  If  the  resi- 
dent is  a  sportsman  he  can  find  plenty  of 
amusement,  game  of  all  descriptions  being  plenti- 
ful. I  may  say  that  the  shooting  begins  about 
September  1,  when  great  flights  of  quails  pass  the 
environs  of  Constantinople,  from  the  threatening 
winter  of  Russia  to  the  warmer  climate  of  Egypt, 
and  afford  capital  amusement.  But  really  to  en- 
joy the  sport  it  is  necessary  to  go  somewhat  far, 
within  ten  miles  of  Constantinople.  The  fields 
during  the  quail  season  are  filled  with  so-called 
sportsmen  to  such  an  extent  that  one  has  every 
chance  of  being  mistaken  for  a  quail,  and  potted 
accordingly.  I  have  counted  at  St.  Stephano,  a 
place  about  nine  miles  from  Stamboul,  celebrated 
for  treaties  and  quails,  both  in  due  season,  more 
than  five  hundred  sportsmen  accompanied  by  howl- 
ing curs  of  every  description.  Such  a  sight  is 
worth  looking  at,  but  for  sport,  well  —  it  is  better 
to  leave  gun  and  dogs  at  home. 

246 


SPORT  IN  TURKEY  247 

I  once  ventured  out  among  the  motley  crowd  of 
quail-shooters ;  there  happened  to  be  a  flight  of 
quails,  so  the  fire  kept  up  very  much  resembled  a 
field-day  on  Southsea  Common.  I  was  hit  all  over 
with  (thank  goodness!)  very  small  shot,  and  made 
a  rapid  retreat  to  save  my  skin  from  perforation. 

However,  going  some  distance  along  the  coast, 
away  from  the  enemy,  one  may  at  times  get  capital 
sport  during  the  months  of  September  and  Octo- 
ber; for  example,  a  single  gun  may  bag  a  hundred 
and  fifty  to  two  hundred  quails  in  a  day. 

After  the  quail  comes  the  partridge  shooting, 
which  is  very  good,  especially  in  the  islands  of  the 
Turkish  archipelago,  where  there  are  great  num- 
bers of  red-legged  partridges  affording  famous 
sport. 

To  properly  enjoy  the  shooting  in  Turkey  a 
yacht  is  necessary,  as  the  best  of  it  is  to  be  found 
in  the  islands  and  near  to  the  sea-coast,  in  places 
quite  inaccessible  to  roads. 

For  example,  the  islands  of  Mitros,  Lemnos,  and 
Mytilene  abound  in  partridges,  and  the  shooting 
there  is  really  capital. 

Either  by  bringing  a  yacht  from  England,  or  by 
hiring  one  at  Constantinople,  the  real  sportsman 
may  have  great  amusement  while  shooting,  with 
Constantinople  as  headquarters.  He  will  find  in 
Asia  Minor  deer  of  all  descriptions,  wild  boars  and 


wolves.  Then  he  will  have  capital  sport  with 
geese,  ducks,  woodcocks,  partridges,  and  snipe. 

Occasionally  he  must  rough  it  somewhat  while 
sleeping  in  villages  some  little  distance  from  the 
sea-coast  for  a  night  or  two,  instead  of  retiring 
on  board  his  floating  home,  and  on  this  head  I 
would  give  a  word  of  advice  to  the  sportsman. 
Always  take  up  your  quarters  in  a  Turkish  village, 
if  possible,  in  preference  to  a  Greek  village.  At 
the  former  you  will  find  the  traditional  hospitality 
of  the  Oriental,  even  among  the  very  poor  people, 
practised  in  every  sense  of  the  word ;  whilst  in  the 
latter  you  will  be  exploit e  (there  is  no  English 
word  that  signifies  as  well  what  I  mean)  to  the 
last  degree,  even  to  the  pilfering  of  your  car- 
tridges. 

I  have  seen  on  arriving  at  a  Turkish  village 
every  one  vie  with  the  other,  and  doing  their  very 
utmost  to  make  the  sportsman  and  his  party  com- 
fortable. I  have  seen  "  harems,"  such  as  they 
are,  cleaned  out  and  prepared  as  a  sleeping  apart- 
ment, all  the  inmates  huddling  together  in  some 
little  corner.  I  have  remarked  one  old  woman 
arrive  with  a  couple  of  eggs,  another  with  what 
was  perhaps  her  pet  fowl,  to  be  sacrificed  at  the 
altar  of  hospitality  —  in  fact,  only  one  idea 
seemed  to  animate  them,  namely,  hospitality,  and 
it  is  touching  to  see  how  they  shrink  from  the  prof- 


SPORT  IN  TURKEY  249 

fered  reward  made  by  the  sportsman  on  leaving 
these  kind  though  poor  and  long-suffering  people. 

There  are  different  kinds  of  deer  to  be  found 
in  Asia  Minor,  which  strangely  enough  imitate  the 
habits  of  the  inhabitants,  Greek,  Turk,  and  Arme- 
nian, by  not  herding  together. 

First,  there  are  the  large  red  deer  which  gen- 
erally inhabit  the  high  mountains  and  are  difficult 
to  get,  except  when  the  winter  snow  drives  them 
down  into  the  lower  grounds.  I  have  been  fortu- 
nate enough  to  kill  several  of  these  splendid  animals 
during  my  sojourn  in  Turkey.  I  will  give  my 
readers  an  account  of  how  I  shot  two  of  them. 
One  day  during  the  winter,  when  the  mountains 
were  covered  with  snow,  I  received  news  that  three 
deer  of  the  largest  description  were  in  a  ravine 
at  the  foot  of  a  mountain  some  six  hours'  distance 
from  Ismidt.  I  immediately  started  off  in  pur- 
suit. I  must  mention  that  all  persons  of  high 
rank  in  Turkey  have,  or  had  at  the  time  I  write 
of,  by  their  shooting  firman,  the  right  to  call  upon 
the  villagers  in  the  neighborhood  in  which  they 
are  shooting  to  assist  in  driving  or  searching  for 
game.  In  my  case  it  was  not  necessary  to  take 
advantage  of  such  an  offer;  every  one  was  on  the 
alert  for  my  arrival.  The  people  told  me  that 
that  very  morning  they  had  seen  the  noble  beasts 
J  was  after,  grazing  outside  the  wood.  So 


250  HOBART  PASHA 

gathering  the  villagers,  boys  carrying  horns,  men 
(much  against  my  will)  carrying  guns,  accom- 
panied by  every  available  dog,  from  the  grand 
shepherd's  dog  to  the  yapping  cur  of  the  village, 
off  we  started. 

The  ravine  was  thickly  wooded,  and  extended 
far  up  the  mountain,  where  it  ended  in  a  bare  spot 
without  trees.  To  this  place  I  went  alone,  leav- 
ing the  crowd  behind  me  with  directions  not  to 
move  till  I  was  in  my  place,  which  instruction  they 
most  strictly  followed.  After  half  an  hour's  walk 
I  arrived  at  the  place  I  have  named.  I  had  hardly 
time  to  regain  my  breath  when  I  heard  a  row  below 
me  as  if  Bedlam  had  been  let  loose.  I  loaded  my 
gun  with  buckshot  in  one  barrel  and  ball  in  the 
other,  and  remained  as  quiet  as  a  mouse.  As  the 
noise  of  the  beaters  and  dogs  approached  me,  I 
heard  a  crash  in  the  bushes  within  about  forty 
yards  of  me,  and  presently  a  magnificent  stag  as 
big  as  a  cow  came  slowly  out  of  the  cover,  looking 
behind  him,  evidently  not  expecting  an  enemy  in 
front.  As  soon  as  he  was  well  clear  of  the  bushes, 
I  fired  at  him  with  buckshot  and  killed  him  dead. 

I  hardly  had  time  to  think,  when,  with  a  tremen- 
dous rush,  two  other  large  deer  broke  out  of  the 
wood  straight  at  me  at  full  gallop.  I  fired  a  bullet 
at  the  foremost  one,  which  turned  back  into  the 
woods  apparently  wounded,  and  so  it  proved,  for 


SPORT  IN  TURKEY  251 

it  ran  among  the  beaters,  evidently  having  lost  its 
head,  and  was  soon  despatched  among  dogs,  men 
and  guns.  He  was  a  stag  also,  and  as  I  claimed 
to  have  shot  him,  I  may  say  that  I  had  the  luck 
to  shoot  a  brace  of  splendid  stags  right  and  left. 

There  is  not  a  sportsman  in  Europe  who  would 
not  have  been  delighted  at  such  a  chance  of  red 
deer  like  these;  such  as  are  not  seen  anywhere  ex- 
cept in  Asia  Minor.  The  largest  one  had  nineteen 
points  to  his  antlers,  weighed  when  cleaned  a  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  okes,  equal  to  three  hundred  and 
twenty  pounds  English  measure,  and  certainly  was 
larger  than  any  stag  I  have  ever  met  with  either 
in  Scotland  or  in  Austria.  During  the  sixteen- 
years  that  I  have  passed  in  the  East  I  have  only 
succeeded  in  killing  four  of  these  splendid  animals. 
This  I  attribute  very  much  to  the  want  of  proper 
deerhounds,  which  unfortunately  I  have  not  been 
able  to  procure. 

The  crowd  of  beaters  make  so  much  noise  that 
the  deer  slip  away  at  the  sides  of  the  thick  covers 
unseen,  whereas  dogs  would  drive  them  more  in  a 
straight  line  towards  the  shooters  if  they  are  prop- 
erly posted.  In  addition  to  this,  it  is  always  a 
great  advantage  when  the  hounds  give  tongue, 
and  so  warn  the  sportsman  of  the  whereabouts  of 
the  game.  These  hounds,  called  "  colpoys,"  can 
be  procured  in  Roumania  and  Hungary. 


252  HOBART  PASHA 

There  is  another  description  of  deer  found  near 
the  sea-coast  in  some  parts  of  Asia  Minor,  which  I 
will  describe.  It  is  in  fact  the  pure  wild  fallow 
deer  that  stocks  the  parks  of  Europe,  and  if  I  am 
rightly  informed  is  only  to  be  found  wild  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  even  there  it  is  rare.  I  understand 
that  in  India  or  in  Africa,  where  there  are  hun- 
dreds of  different  sorts  of  deer,  the  real  fallow  is 
not  to  be  found. 

While  shooting  at  a  place  called  Camaris,  near 
to  Gallipoli,  two  years  since,  I  discovered  several 
herds  of  these  deer,  beautiful  creatures,  wild  as 
hawks,  and  accordingly  laid  myself  out  to  shoot 
some  of  them  if  possible.  I  tried  driving,  stalk- 
ing, and  every  manoeuvre  to  circumvent  them,  with- 
out success.  At  last  one  day  I  started  with  my 
beaters  to  a  place  where  there  were  many  tracks 
of  fallow  deer.  I  was  posted  at  a  sort  of  small 
mountain  pen,  having  on  one  side  of  me  a  young 
friend  of  mine,  and  at  the  other  a  native  (these 
fellows  won't  go  out  unless  they  are  allowed  to 
carry  their  guns). 

Shortly  after  the  beaters  had  begun  to  halloo, 
a  fallow  hind  glided  by  between  me  and  my  young 
friend,  like  a  ghost.  Not  a  sound  in  the  wood 
gave  notice  of  its  approach.  It  was  even  quieter 
in  its  movements  than  a  hare  would  have  been.  I 
put  up  my  gun  to  fire,  but  seeing  my  friend's  head 


SPORT  IN  TURKEY  253 

right  in  the  way  and  in  a  line  with  its  muzzle,  I 
waited  a  second,  but  the  deer  was  gone.  I  had 
scarcely  got  over  my  disappointment  when  I  heard 
the  branches  breaking  in  the  wood  very  near  to 
me,  and  suddenly  a  deer  sprang  right  over  my 
head,  taking  a  flying  leap,  like  a  hunter  would 
do  over  a  fence. 

This  unusual  action  on  the  part  of  the  deer 
called  for  unusual  action  on  my  part.  As  he  had 
taken  a  flying  leap  over  my  head,  I  took  a  flying 
shot  at  him  a  second  before  he  landed  on  the  other 
side  of  me.  The  result  was  that  he  rolled  over 
like  a  rabbit,  shot  from  underneath  through  the 
heart.  This  deer  proved  to  be  a  very  fine  speci- 
men of  the  fallow,  every  point  showing  him  to  be 
of  that  species,  except  his  antlers,  which  were 
quite  straight.  This  I  cannot  account  for;  the 
natives,  who  had  remarked  this  deer  on  several 
occasions  feeding  with  the  herd  of  fallow  deer, 
called  it  the  cassic  boa,  which  means  "  straight- 
horned."  Some  time  after  this  I  had  some  good 
sport  with  the  fallow  deer.  Having  got  more  ac- 
customed to  their  habits,  I  found  that  it  was  of 
no  use  trying  to  approach  them,  their  scent  being 
too  keen,  their  eyesight  too  sharp;  the  only  way 
to  get  them  is  by  very  careful,  in  fact  I  may  say 
scientific,  driving. 

Good  boar  shooting  may  be  had  by  going  some 


HOBART  PASHA 

little  distance  from  Constantinople.  It  usually  is 
done  either  by  beaters  or  with  boarhounds ;  but  I 
have  had  very  good  sport  at  boar  while  hunting 
for  woodcocks  and  pheasants,  in  what  may  be 
called  covert  shooting  —  not  exactly  English  cov- 
ert shooting,  in  which  almost  every  tree  is  known 
by  the  keepers,  but  in  coverts  of  great  extent,  in 
which  there  are  almost  impassable  thickets,  made 
still  more  so  by  a  well-known  bramble  called  the 
"  wait-a-bit,"  a  thing  that  hooks  on  to  your  eye- 
lids as  you  pass. 

There  it  is  that  in  these  coverts  spaniels,  half- 
English,  half  country-bred  dogs,  do  frequently 
the  work  of  beaters,  and  it  is  a  strange  fact  that 
while  piggy  starts  at  once  from  his  lair  at  the 
approach  of  the  boarhounds,  he  will  not  budge  an 
inch  for  the  little  yapping  spaniel,  whom  he  treats 
with  contempt. 

I  have  known  many  instances  when,  on  hearing 
a  jolly  row  in  the  covert,  I  have  crawled  in  on 
my  hands  and  knees,  and  found  a  boar  being 
bayed  by  my  spaniels  —  in  fact,  I  have  killed  more 
pigs  in  this  way  than  in  any  other.  The  danger 
is  that  you  may  have  your  dogs  killed  by  the 
boar;  this  has  happened  to  me  on  one  or  two  oc- 
casions, more  especially  with  young  dogs. 

I  had  once  a  cunning  old  spaniel  dog  (poor 
Dick  well  known  to  most  sportsmen  out  here), 


SPORT  IN  TURKEY  255 

who  has  frequently  come  out  of  the  wood  with  hi§ 
mouth  full  of  pig's  hair,  he  evidently  having  torn 
the  hair  off  the  animal  while  laying  in  his  lair. 
(Dick  was  never  hurt  by  a  pig.)  I  have  often 
surrounded,  with  my  brother  sportsmen  and  my- 
self, large  bushes  in  which  the  piggies  were  se- 
curely hidden,  driven  them  out,  and  shot  them  as 
one  would  do  hares  or  rabbits. 

I  have  heard  a  good  deal  of  the  danger  of  pig 
shooting,  on  account  of  the  savage  propensities 
of  the  animal;  but  I  have  found  that,  with  very 
rare  exceptions,  the  Anatolian  wild  boar  always 
runs.  It  is  true  that  they  (she  or  he,  the  females 
are  the  most  savage)  have  a  nasty  knack  of  giving 
a  sort  of  jerk  with  their  heads,  when  fighting  or 
even  passing  an  enemy,  and  that  jerk  means  to  a 
man  the  ripping  up  of  his  leg  from  his  heel  to  his 
thigh,  to  a  dog  the  tearing  open  of  his  entrails. 

On  one  occasion  I  was  out  cock  shooting,  when 
some  shepherds'  dogs  in  a  valley  adjoining  that 
in  which  I  was  walking  started  a  large  wild  boar, 
a  beast  they  call  a  solitaire,  from  the  fact  that 
he  is  always  seen  after  a  certain  time  of  life  alone. 
The  animal  made  for  a  ridge  dividing  the  valleys ; 
on  getting  there  he  passed  along  the  sky-line, 
about  eighty  yards  from  where  I  was.  I  changed 
my  cartridges  and  fired  a  ball  at  the  pig,  who 
rushed  away,  apparently  unshot;  on  going  to  the 


256  HOBART  PASHA 

spot,  however,  where  he  had  passed  when  I  fired, 
I  found  some  drops  of  blood.  This  blood  I  traced 
for  about  half  a  mile,  till  I  came  to  a  large  clump 
of  bushes  into  which  my  spaniels  dashed,  evidently 
close  to  their  game.  I  heard  a  tremendous  row 
in  the  bushes,  and  had  hardly  time  to  prepare  when 
the  great  beast  with  his  eyes  all  bloodshot  and 
foaming  at  the  mouth  rushed  straight  at  me.  I 
was  on  a  narrow  path,  from  which  there  was  no 
escape,  as  the  boar  was  tearing  up  it,  followed  by 
the  dogs.  I  fired  a  ball  straight  in  his  face,  at 
the  distance  of  about  two  yards,  in  spite  of  which 
he  rushed  straight  on,  knocked  me  clean  over,  and 
while  passing  me  made  the  usual  dangerously  effec- 
tive jerk  I  have  alluded  to  above,  by  which  he 
cut  my  boot  from  the  ankle  to  the  thigh,  and 
drew  a  little  blood  just  above  and  inside  of  the 
knee ;  after  which  the  boar  rushed  headlong  for 
about  thirty  yards  and  dropped  dead.  I  found 
that  my  bullet  had  smashed  through  his  forehead 
straight  between  the  eyes  and  gone  into  his  brain. 
He  was  an  enormous  brute,  weighing  when 
cleaned  twenty-one  stone,  and  carrying  the  finest 
tusks  I  have  seen  anywhere  as  belonging  to  a  wild 
boar.  I  only  had  one  man  with  me ;  we  were  what 
may  be  called  eight  miles  from  anywhere.  Still  I 
was  determined  not  to  leave  my  prize ;  so  I  sent  my 
man  for  a  country  wagon,  and  sitting  down  on  my 


SPORT  IN  TURKEY  257 

now  harmless  beast,  smoked  cigarettes  and  waited 
quietly  till  the  vehicle  came. 

Now,  apropos  of  wild  boar  attacking  people, 
I  am  convinced  that  this  animal  had  no  intention 
of  attacking  me.  He  was,  though  badly  wounded 
by  the  first  shot,  running  from  the  dogs,  and  I 
got  in  his  way.  Voila  tout! 

On  only  one  other  occasion  I  nearly  came  to 
grief  while  boar-shooting.  On  my  arriving  at  a 
Turkish  village  one  night,  I  was  told  that  there 
was  an  enormous  boar  in  the  neighborhood,  who 
for  a  long  time  had  been  the  terror  of  the  country, 
inasmuch  as  he,  accompanied  by  a  large  party  of 
the  pig  tribe,  had  rooted  up  the  crops  all  round 
the  village,  destroyed  gardens,  and  tradition  even 
said  had  killed  children  and  eaten  them  (this  latter 
story  I  don't  take  in).  However,  the  poor  people 
prayed  me  with  tears  in  their  eyes  to  rid  them  of 
their  enemy,  which  I  promised  to  do  if  possible. 
So  the  next  morning  off  we  started  in  the  follow- 
ing order:  first,  myself  and  friends,  accompanied 
by  the  elders  of  the  village  armed  with  old-fash- 
ioned guns;  then  the  young  men  with  knives  and 
big  sticks,  the  women  and  children  bringing  up 
the  rear  as  lookers-on. 

I  and  my  two  friends  were  escorted  into  the 
centre  of  a  large  wood,  in  which  very  original 
seats  m  trees  had  been  knocked  up  for  us.  The 


258  HOBART  PASHA 

object  of  these  seats  was  for  our  personal  safety, 
but  I  as  a  sportsman  saw  at  once  that  to  be  up 
a  tree  was  not  only  advantageous  in  that  respect, 
but  also  that  we  should  be  much  more  invisible, 
hidden  among  the  branches  of  a  tree,  than  by 
being  stationed  on  the  ground.  So  we  mounted 
our  trees,  and  the  beaters  went  into  the  woods 
some  half  a  mile  from  us.  I  never  heard  such  a 
row  as  they  made  when  they  began  the  drive ;  they 
beat  drums,  fired  guns,  rang  bells,  and  it  was 
evident  to  me  that  no  wild  beast  would  hold  to  his 
lair  under  such  a  torrent  of  abuse.  I  found  the 
words  they  were  using  were  curses  on  the  wild 
boar.  I  saw  two  or  three  fallow  deer  glide  past 
me,  with  their  usual  ghostlike  silence,  and  shortly 
afterwards  the  woods  very  near  me  seemed  to  shake 
with  something  coming.  Suddenly  some  fifteen  to 
twenty  wild  boar  appeared  among  the  bushes,  com- 
ing straight  towards  me.  The  first  of  these  was 
an  enormous  brute,  evidently  the  boar  we  wanted. 

I  heard  shots  on  either  side  of  me  from  my 
friends,  but  I  kept  my  eye  on  the  big  boar.  To 
my  astonishment  he  came  right  under  the  tree 
where  I  was  sitting,  and  stopped  to  listen. 

He  cocked  his  head  on  one  side,  looked  all  round 
him,  but  forgot  to  look  up  the  tree  he  was  quite 
close  to,  in  which  was  his  enemy. 

Taking  advantage  of  this  I  fired  a  ball  and  an 


SPORT  IN  TURKEY  259 

S.S.G.  cartridge  into  him,  before  he  could  make 
up  his  mind  which  way  to  go ;  he  gave  a  tremendous 
grunt  and  rolled  over.  I  had  not  time  to  be  over- 
joyed at  my  luck  before  I  found  myself  rolling 
on  the  ground  alongside  of  my  victim,  who,  not 
being  dead,  was  by  no  means  a  pleasant  compan- 
ion. The  fact  is  that  the  seat  on  which  I  had 
been  perched,  having  been  very  carelessly  put  up, 
had  given  way,  and  down  I  came  from  a  height  of 
about  twelve  feet.  The  branches  of  the  tree  had 
broken  my  fall,  but  my  gun  had  fallen  out  of  my 
hand  and  I  had  sprained  my  ankle,  so  that  I  was 
in  rather  an  awkward  position.  The  boar  was 
shot  through  the  spine,  and  could  not  get  along, 
though  he  made  frantic  efforts  to  get  at  me. 

It  was  of  no  use  my  calling  out  for  help ; 
.everybody  was  calling  out,  everybody  was  excited, 
firing  at  the  pigs  that  were  running  about 
in  all  directions.  At  the  moment  when  I  began 
to  think  affairs  somewhat  serious  (I  tried  to  get 
up  and  walk,  but  could  not  do  so  on  account  of 
my  ankle),  as  the  boar  was  crawling  towards  me, 
looking  very  mischievous,  two  great  shepherd's 
dogs  arrived  on  the  scene,  and  went  straight  in 
for  my  enemy.  Poor  beast!  He  made  a  gallant 
fight ;  he  could  hardly  move,  but  he  could  use  his 
head,  and  he  tore  one  of  the  dogs  open  in  a  fright- 
ful way ;  then  two  or  three  men  came  up,  but  they 


260  HOBART  PASHA 

were  afraid  to  go  near  to  the  boar.  I  made  them 
hand  me  my  gun  that  was  lying  on  the  ground  near 
me,  with  which  I  soon  put  a  stop  to  the  battle. 

Then  all  the  people  began  to  muster  round  their 
dead  enemy,  and  it  was  laughable  to  see  and  hear 
how  they  abused  and  kicked  the  body  of  the  pig. 
How  to  get  the  carcass  away  was  the  next  ques- 
tion. We  sent  for  two  wagons  and  four  or  five 
Christians  (as  the  Turks  won't  touch  pig),  one 
to  carry  me,  the  other  the  boar;  so,  after  being 
placed  in  the  wagons,  we  made  with  piggy  a  tri- 
umphant return  to  the  village.  Luckily  the  vil- 
lage was  on  the  sea-shore,  and  my  yacht  was  lying 
close  to  the  land,  so  I  got  on  board  comfortably ; 
but  it  was  several  days  before  I  could  walk. 

I  believe  that  that  pig  was  nasty,  and  would 
have  given  me  the  jerk  if  he  could  have  done  so. 
Five  other  boar  were  killed  on  that  occasion,  one 
of  my  friends  killing  two ;  but  I  had  the  honor  of 
killing  the  boar  of  the  period  in  that  part  of  the 
world.  While  referring  to  that  neighborhood,  I 
would  mention  that  it  was  within  five  miles  of  the 
place  I  have  been  writing  about  that  poor  Cap- 
tain Selby,  of  H.M.S.  Rapid,  was  killed,  some 
two  years  ago.  There  are  people  who  think  that 
he  was  attacked  and  murdered  by  robbers.  Such 
is  not  the  case ;  his  death  was  a  most  unfortunate 
occurrence  brought  on  by  a  misunderstanding. 


SPORT  IN  TURKEY  261 

It  is  true  that  the  man  who  shot  poor  Selby 
was  an  ignorant  savage,  but  there  was  no  pre- 
meditation. It  was  a  word  and  a  blow.  The  lat- 
ter, though  inexcusable  to  the  last  degree,  was 
given  by  a  ruffian  whose  class  is  in  the  habit  of 
shooting  and  stabbing  one  another  (let  alone 
strangers,  whom  they  detest)  at  the  slightest 
provocation.  They  are  not  natives  of  Turkey, 
but  come  of  strange  tribes  who  live  far  away  and 
are  hired  to  guard  the  sheep  in  the  winter  months, 
returning  to  their  homes  in  the  summer.  I  went 
myself  to  the  spot  where  the  sad  occurrence  took 
place  shortly  afterwards,  and  found  the  people 
very  penitent  and  very  frightened.  Let  us  hope 
that  the  punishment  awarded  to  the  principal 
actors  in  the  sad  affair  will  be  a  salutary  warning 
for  the  future. 

As  brigandage  may  be  considered  as  in  some 
way  connected  with  sporting,  inasmuch  as  many 
refrain  from  going  out  shooting  when  they  fear 
being  robbed  and  murdered,  I  will  say  a  few  words 
about  brigandage  in  Anatolia. 

I  have  been  for  seventeen  years  an  ardent  lover 
of  sport  in  Turkey,  and  have  generally  shot  in 
Asia  Minor.  I  have  slept  in  villages  that  were 
supposed  to  be  inhabited  by  brigands.  I  have 
been  almost  alone  among  an  armed  crowd  of  beat- 
ers, all  of  whom  had  the  reputation  of  being  rob- 


262  HOBART  PASHA 

bers,  but  I  have  never  been  robbed  or  threatened 
with  robbery.  Perhaps  there  exists  a  sort  of  sym- 
pathy between  brigands  and  sportsmen,  for  I  can- 
not call  to  mind  any  instance  of  a  sportsman  being 
robbed.  It  is  true  that  sometimes  a  fat  financier, 
or  rich  rentier,  who  may  have  called  himself  a 
sportsman,  has  been  carried  off  and  ransom  de- 
manded for  him,  but  a  real  sportsman  never. 

It  is  true  that  in  some  of  the  villages  where 
dwell  the  peoples  of  a  nation  I  am  not  supposed  to 
love,  you  are  liable  to  and  probably  will  be  exploits 
to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  way  of  pilfering 
cartridges,  &c.,  but  it  is  their  nature  to.  So, 
brother  sportsman,  when  you  come  out  here  take 
your  abode  in  Turkish  villages. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

SPOET  AND  SOCIETY 

I   HAVE    mentioned,   in   what   I   have   written 
above  relating  to  sport,  the  name  of  a  some- 
what celebrated  spaniel  of  mine,  whose  name 
was  Dick. 

The  commencement  of  this  bow-wow's  career  was 
as  strange  as  the  many  adventures  he  afterwards 
went  through.  When  he  was  quite  a  young  dog, 
he  once  worked  with  me  all  day  in  ice  and  snow, 
and  at  last  fell  down  lifeless.  A  heavy  snowstorm 
was  raging,  and  as  poor  Dick  seemed  quite  dead, 
we  made  him  a  grave  in  the  snow  and  covered  him 
up  with  leaves  and  bushes.  We  accomplished  this 
with  difficulty,  on  account  of  the  blinding  snow 
and  the  streams  that  were  much  swollen  by  tor- 
rents from  the  mountains.  Dick's  burial-place 
was  about  eight  miles  from  where  the  vessel  was 
lying.  We  all  got  on  board  that  night.  I  was 
deeply  grieved  at  the  loss  of  the  dog,  who  had 
already  shown  great  promise  as  a  first-class  sport- 
ing dog,  a  most  difficult  thing  to  procure  in  this 
country.  What  was  our  astonishment  the  next 
263 


264  HOBART  PASHA 

morning  at  daylight  to  see  Dick  on  the  beach, 
making  piteous  howls  to  draw  attention  to  his 
whereabouts.  He  was  warmly  welcomed,  as  may 
be  supposed;  he  did  not  seem  a  bit  the  worse  for 
his  brief  sojourn  in  the  grave,  and  went  out  shoot- 
ing again  the  same  day  as  happy  as  ever.  This 
enthusiastic  little  spaniel  was  always  doing  strange 
things;  he  followed  every  fox  and  every  badger 
into  their  holes,  and  we  have  had,  time  after  time, 
to  dig  him  out  covered  with  blood  and  fearfully 
mauled,  after  having  passed  perhaps  twenty-four 
hours  in  the  earth. 

Mr.  Dick  generally  hunted  alone,  occasionally, 
coming  near  to  see  that  I  was  all  right.  Now 
this  sounds  bad  for  Dick's  qualities  as  a  sporting 
dog,  but  such  a  dog  is  necessary  in  a  thickly- 
wooded  region  such  as  I  shot  in,  when  one  wants 
to  know  what  is  in  the  country. 

Dick,  when  he  found  anything,  barked  loudly; 
and  this  drew  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  was 
game  in  that  quarter.  Sometimes,  of  course,  he 
drove  the  game  away;  at  others  he  drove  it  to- 
wards me.  At  all  events  he  went  to  places  where 
I  never  could  have  gone.  On  one  occasion  I  heard 
a  great  noise  among  some  long  reeds  near  a  lake 
where  I  was  duck  shooting  —  Dick  barking,  some 
other  animal  making  a  strange  noise.  This  went 
on  so  long  that  at  last  I  went  to  see  what  was  the 


SPORT  AND  SOCIETY  265 

matter.  After  much  trouble  I  got  into  the  reeds 
and  approached  the  noise,  which  was  momentarily 
getting  worse.  On  coming  close  I  found  an  ani- 
mal about  Dick's  size  standing  on  its  hind  legs 
and  fighting  with  its  fore  paws,  Dick  covered  with 
blood,  fighting  hard  and  watching  an  opportunity 
to  close  with  his  enemy.  On  my  approach  the 
animal  dropped  on  to  fore  paws  and  endeavored 
to  escape,  on  which  Dick  jumped  on  to  him,  thus 
making  it  very  difficult  for  me  to  use  my  gun. 
However,  at  last,  by  watching  my  opportunity,  I 
fired  a  shot  which  disposed  of  the  fighting  powers 
of  the  beast,  which  turned  out  to  be  a  very  large 
badger.  I  never  could  understand  what  he  was 
doing  so  far  away  from  his  place  of  refuge.  Was 
he  after  ducks,  or  what?  The  animal  was  at  least 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  away  from  dry  land,  being 
in  the  middle  of  a  marsh  overgrown  with  reeds. 
Another  of  Mr.  Dick's  adventures  ended  more 
unfortunately  for  him,  as  I  fear  he  never  got  over 
its  effects.  I  again,  as  on  the  last  occasion,  heard 
him  evidently  furiously  engaged  with  something 
in  a  thick  wood.  After  crawling  on  my  hands 
and  knees  for  some  time,  I  found  Dick  and  two 
other  of  my  spaniels  in  furious  combat  with  an 
enormous  wild  cat,  which  when  I  came  up  was  hold- 
ing her  own  against  the  dogs.  The  beast  got  her 
back  against  a  tree,  and  was  fighting  all  three 


266  HOBART  PASHA 

dogs,  keeping  them  at  a  respectful  distance.  My 
man  seized  a  piece  of  wood,  more  like  a  little  tree 
than  a  stick,  and  made  a  blow  at  the  cat,  which 
blow  unfortunately  came  down  with  great  force 
on  Dick's  head.  The  poor  dog  lay  senseless  for 
some  time,  and  then  crawled  away,  seeming  to  say, 
"  I'll  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  you."  He 
never  recovered  from  that  blow,  and  became  quite 
a  different  dog,  dying  some  months  afterwards. 

The  feathered  game  shooting  is  very  good  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Constantinople.  Pheasants, 
though  rare,  may  be  obtained,  five  or  six  in  a  day. 
I  have  killed  fifteen  to  my  own  gun,  and  with  a 
party  of  three  we  bagged  sixty-six  in  three  days. 

Snipe  shooting  is  also  very  good.  An  idea  of 
the  bags  that  may  be  made  will  be  seen  when  I 
say  that  at  Besika  Bay,  close  to  the  Dardanelles, 
I  killed  in  three  days  three  hundred  and  three 
snipe,  an  average  of  one  hundred  and  one  a  day. 
When  there  is  snow  lying  on  the  hills  there  are 
plenty  of  cock ;  myself  and  two  friends  having 
killed  in  three  days  two  hundred  and  ninety-eight 
long-bills. 

My  best  bag  in  cock  has  been  sixty-three  in  one 
day's  shooting  alone.  I  have  lately  taken  to  punt- 
ing after  ducks,  and  have  been  very  successful. 
One  gets  twenty  to  thirty  a  day,  and  occasionally 
a  swan.  I  once  killed  four  of  the  latter  with  one 


SPORT  AND  SOCIETY  267 

shot  from  my  punt  gun  (one  of  Holland  &  Hol- 
land's). 

Hares  are  not  very  numerous;  to  get  three  or 
four  in  a  day  is  counted  good  luck;  but  one  gen- 
erally picks  up  one  or  two  during  a  day's  shoot- 
ing. 

Thus  the  sum  of  what  you  have  in  this  country 
is  red  deer,  fallow  deer,  roe  deer,  pigs,  wolves,  and 
bears  (as  to  the  latter,  rare),  hares,  pheasants, 
cocks,  snipe,  quails,  and  ducks ;  so  that  a  man 
who  lays  himself  out  for  sport,  and  has  a  yacht, 
can  have  plenty  of  amusement  between  September 
and  March. 

The  coast  of  Karamania,  taking  in  all  the  coast 
from  some  distance  below  Smyrna,  passing  Rhodes 
and  so  on  to  the  Gulf  of  Ayas,  affords  all  the  way 
along  capital  sport  to  yachting  men.  For  ex- 
ample, in  the  large  gulfs  of  Boudroum  and 
Marmorice,  capital  anchorage  will  be  found,  and 
a  country  almost  virgin  as  far  as  sport  is  con- 
cerned. 

Some  years  ago,  while  commanding  an  Eng- 
lish ship-of-war,  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  sent 
on  a  roving  commission  against  pirates  that  were 
supposed  to  infest  that  coast.  Somehow  I  always 
imagined  that  pirates  were  more  or  less  sports- 
men, so  I  hunted  for  them  in  places  that  looked 
gamey,  and  thus  made  the  acquaintance  of  many 


268  HOBART  PASHA 

almost  unknown,  or  at  all  events  unfrequented, 
harbors  and  creeks,  in  which  I  had  famous  sport. 

On  the  coast  of  Karamania  the  ibex  is  to  be 
found  in  considerable  quantities ;  the  red-legged 
partridge  and  the  francolin  are  also  very  abun- 
dant, and  give  capital  sport. 

There  are  also  at  the  head  of  the  gulf  I  have 
alluded  to  large  marshes  for  duck  and  snipe.  The 
most  celebrated,  because  the  best  known  place  in 
the  part  I  am  alluding  to,  is  the  Gulf  of  Ayas, 
into  which  runs  the  well-known  (to  all  naval 
sportsmen  )  river  called  the  Jiboon.  A  yacht  must 
anchor  at  some  distance  off  the  entrance  of  this 
river,  but  the  anchorage  is  quite  safe  in  all  weath- 
ers. Getting  over  the  bar  of  the  river  is  a  matter 
at  times  of  considerable  difficulty,  but  once  inside 
the  bar  you  are  in  the  paradise  of  shooting.  A 
small  steam  launch  is  necessary  to  stem  the  strong 
current,  and  to  tow  another  boat  up  with  tents, 
provisions,  &c.  It  is  true  that  in  my  time  we  had 
no  steam  launches,  and  I  shall  not  forget  the  hard 
work  we  had  to  take  two  boats  sufficiently  far  up 
the  river  to  get  well  into  the  shooting  grounds, 
and  even  after  two  days'  struggling  we  did  not 
arrive  so  far  as  I  should  have  wished  (we,  in  fact, 
only  got  four  miles  up  the  stream).  Still  we  had 
some  rare  sport,  the  more  especially  with  pigs  and 
francolin. 


SPORT  AND  SOCIETY  269 

The  morning  after  we  had  pitched  our  tents 
some  wandering  Arabs  came  to  us  and  offered  to 
beat  the  woods,  which  they  declared  to  be  full  of 
wild  boar.  They  told  us  that  the  habit  of  these 
animals  was,  on  being  driven,  to  take  to  the  river 
and  swim  to  the  other  side;  so  we  placed  our  guns 
along  the  banks  and  told  the  boat  to  guard  the 
river  from  pigs  swimming  across,  and  try  to  stop 
them  as  best  they  could.  The  gunners  available 
for  the  shore  work  consisted  of  myself  and  two 
friends  and  my  coxswain,  who  was  armed  with  a 
ship's  rifle.  The  Arabs  went  into  the  bush  on 
horseback ;  the  beat  had  hardly  begun  when  a  lot  of 
pigs  were  started,  all  making  for  the  river;  three 
of  these  were  knocked  over.  As  they  approached 
several  others  dashed  into  the  river,  and  a  most 
amusing  hunt  was  made  after  them  by  the  sailors. 
Not  being  armed  with  rifles,  their  weapons  of  of- 
fence against  piggy  were  revolvers,  ropes>  and  the 
stretchers  of  the  boats. 

There  was,  as  may  be  supposed,  great  excite- 
ment among  the  men  when  the  pigs  took  to  the 
water ;  they  at  once  went  at  them,  firing  revolvers, 
pulling  after  them  as  they  swam,  using  language 
not  allowed  in  these  refined  days  in  the  navy ;  and, 
before  we  got  to  the  scene  of  action  they  had 
lassoed  as  it  were  two  fine  pigs,  and  tied  them  to 
trees  on  the  riverside,  and  when  we  arrived  were 


270  HOBART  PASHA 

firing  their  revolvers  at  them  apparently  with  very 
little  effect ;  however,  we  soon  gave  the  animals 
the  coup  de  grace.  Thus  we  killed  five  pigs  in 
our  first  drive.  We  took  the  liver,  alias  fry,  out 
of  the  pigs  to  eat  (it  is  most  excellent),  cut  off 
the  heads  of  the  tuskers,  and  hung  the  remaining 
parts  on  a  tree  to  wait  our  return,  changing  our 
camp  further  up  the  river  the  same  night. 

The  next  morning  early  I  took  a  stroll  into  the 
woods  by  myself.  While  looking  about  me  I  saw 
what  I  thought  was  a  large  animal  sleeping  in  the 
bushes.  I  began  accordingly  to  stalk  him.  I  got 
within  eighty  yards,  put  my  gun  up  to  shoot,  but 
as  I  could  not  pitch  on  a  vital  part  to  aim  at,  only 
seeing  a  mass  of  what  was  evidently  an  animal 
rolled  up,  I  went  nearer  and  nearer;  in  fact,  little 
by  little,  I  got  within  ten  yards  of  the  quarry ; 
then  I  fired  a  ball  into  what  I  now  saw  was  a 
huge  pig.  No  move!  What  did  it  mean?  I 
could  not  have  killed  it  sleeping.  However,  I  took 
courage  and  went  close  and  put  my  hand  on  the 
beast ;  what  should  it  be  but  an  immense  boar 
lying  dead  in  his  lair.  He  must  have  died  months 
before  I  found  him,  as  the  skin  fell  to  pieces  on 
being  touched,  the  hair  into  powder ;  his  head  was 
a  splendid  one,  but  I  could  only  save  the  jawbones, 
in  which  were  a  grand  pair  of  tusks.  The  moral 


SPORT  AND  SOCIETY  271 

of  this  is  that  pigs,  like  everything  else,  die 
sometimes  quietly  in  their  beds,  be  that  retreat 
only  a  lair  in  the  forest;  but  it  is  a  rare  occur- 
rence to  find  relics  of  wild  animals  in  so  perfect 
a  state.  I  fancy  their  friends  and  relations  gen- 
.erally  eat  them.  The  bed  or  lair  he  was  lying  in 
was  a  most  snug  spot,  and  he  would  have  been 
quite  invisible  had  not  some  of  the  brushwood  been 
burnt  away,  Arab  fashion,  a  short  time  before  I 
found  him. 

I  must  warn  any  sportsman  intending  to  shoot 
in  the  Jiboon  river  country  that  the  wandering 
Arabs  who  are  to  be  found  there,  though  not  brig- 
ands of  a  high  order,  are  petty  thieves  to  the  last 
degree.  We  were  always  obliged  to  keep  a  watch 
in  our  tents,  leaving  a  man  behind  in  charge  when 
we  went  on  shooting  excursions.  On  one  occasion 
we  found  on  our  return  that  our  watchman  had 
captured  an  old  woman  whom  he  caught  in  the  act 
of  creeping  under  the  tent  and  stealing  a  spoon. 

I  had  myself  a  curious  adventure.  An  Arab 
told  me  that  he  knew  where  a  boar  was  lying  in 
the  long  grass,  and  that  he  would  take  me  to  the 
spot  if  I  would  accompany  him.  We  started  off 
together,  and  on  getting  well  into  the  wood  we 
went  on  our  hands  and  knees,  crawling  under  the 
trees  and  brushwood,  towards  the  spot  where  the 


272  HOBART  PASHA 

boar  was  supposed  to  be.  We  had  to  keep  quite 
close  together.  I  carried  round  my  neck  a  very 
pretty  silver  whistle,  which  I  prized  exceedingly. 
Suddenly,  when  we  were  in  a  very  thick  part  of 
the  bush,  the  Arab  seized  hold  of  my  whistle  and 
held  it  tight.  I  immediately  grasped  the  hand 
that  held  the  whistle;  this  I  did  with  my  right 
hand  holding  his  left.  He,  with  his  right  hand, 
tried  to  draw  a  knife.  I,  with  my  left,  tried  to 
get  my  gun  to  bear  on  him,  but  there  was  so  little 
room  to  spare  on  account  of  the  thick  bush  that 
both  our  operations  were  difficult  of  performance. 
As  soon  as  I  saw  him  trying  to  draw  a  knife,  I 
dropped  the  hand  with  the  whistle,  and  seized  that 
with  which  he  tried  to  draw  the  knife.  Thus  the 
play  went  on  for  two  or  three  minutes ;  neither  of 
us  spoke,  all  our  energies  were  directed  on  our 
different  games.  At  last,  by  turning  round  a 
little,  I  succeeded  in  giving  him  a  tremendous  kick, 
which  rolled  him  over  on  his  back;  then  my  gun 
was  free,  and  I  held  it  to  his  head,  upon  which  he 
took  an  attitude  of  supplication  on  his  knees,  and 
prayed  for  quarter.  I  made  him  give  me  his 
knife,  go  on  all-fours  again,  and  creep  before  me 
out  of  the  wood.  This  was  a  most  audacious  at- 
tempt at  petty  robbery.  I  should  like  to  have 
peppered  him  a  little,  but  he  was  so  penitent,  I 
decided  to  let  him  go.  I  don't  think  he  meant  to 


SPORT  AND  SOCIETY  273 

stab  me;  I  think  he  merely  wanted  to  cut  the 
string  that  held  the  whistle.  These  men  were  not 
generally  murderers. 

On  this  trip  we  killed  twelve  pigs,  a  hundred  and 
seven  francolin,  one  lynx,  and  lots  of  cock  and 
ducks. 

Coming  back  to  the  ship  I,  and  those  with  me  in 
my  boat,  very  nearly  came  to  utter  grief.  There 
was  a  good  deal  of  sea  on  the  bar  of  the  river. 
The  cutter  that  was  with  me  got  over  all  safe,  but 
my  whale-boat  being  loaded  heavily  with  pigs,  &c., 
refused  to  rise  with  the  waves,  and  not  doing  so, 
the  consequences  were  that  she  filled  and  capsized. 
We  had  all  to  jump  and  make  for  the  shore,  a 
distance  of  nearly  a  mile,  being  in  the  greatest 
danger  while  doing  so  of  getting  into  the  current 
of  the  river.  Any  one  who  had  done  this  must 
have  been  washed  away  and  drowned;  however, 
thank  goodness,  all  hands  were  saved.  The  whale- 
boat  was  afterwards  picked  up,  having  been  washed 
out  to  sea,  but  we  lost  all  tents,  spare  guns,  &c. ; 
the  pigs  remained  in  the  boat,  as  they  were  stowed 
under  the  thwarts,  and  hadn't  room  to  float  out; 
so,  friends,  take  warning  of  the  bar  of  the  Jiboon 
river. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  I  received  a  report 
from  some  American  missionaries  to  the  effect  that 
one  of  their  comrades  had  been  robbed  and  mur- 


dered  by  some  Arabs  who  inhabited  the  mountains 
near  Alexandretta,  people  whose  evil  deeds  had 
for  some  time  past  brought  them  into  notoriety. 
Although  I  was  under  orders  to  join  the  com- 
mander-in-chief,  I  took  it  upon  myself  to  remain 
and  assist  the  Americans  in  hunting  down  if  pos- 
sible the  murderers  of  their  comrade. 

I  confess  I  was  made  more  zealous  in  the  cause 
from  hearing  that  there  were  "  lots  of  big  game  on 
the  hills."  I  invited  two  or  three  of  these  Amer- 
ican missionaries  to  join  my  mess,  and  off  we  went 
to  look  for  the  murderers.  As  this  is  a  chapter 
on  shooting,  I  will  as  briefly  as  possible  state  what 
we  did  in  the  official  way.  In  the  first  place  we 
anchored  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Ayas,  near 
a  large  town  where  resided  the  chief  authority  of 
the  neighborhood  in  which  the  murder  had  been 
committed.  I  landed  with  the  missionaries,  sev- 
eral of  my  officers,  and  some  marines  to  act  as  an 
escort,  and  paid  an  official  visit  to  this  gentleman, 
who  was  called  the  caimakam,  or  chief  magistrate. 
This  great  man  told  us  that  we  should  certainly 
with  his  assistance  find  the  people  we  were  after. 
He  suggested  that  we  should  accompany  him  with 
a  small  body  of  our  men,  to  which  he  could  add 
some  of  his  zeptiehs ;  that  thus  accompanied  he 
would  go  to  a  place  on  the  hill  where  we  should 
find  what  we  wanted.  He  said  that  a  little  "  back- 


SPORT  AND  SOCIETY  275 

sheesh "   was   necessary.     This  latter   we    found, 
and  the  next  day  we  started. 

We  ascended  amongst  the  most  magnificent 
wooded  hills  I  ever  saw.  "  Such  places  for 
game !  "  thought  I,  till  at  last  we  halted  at  a  clump 
of  splendid  oak  trees.  Under  one  of  these  a  grand 
luncheon  was  spread,  of  which  we  were  all  invited 
to  partake.  During  the  luncheon  a  man  rushed 
up  to  our  host  and  whispered  in  his  ear  something 
which  seemed  to  give  him  great  satisfaction,  for 
he  at  once  smilingly  said,  "  Captain,  I  have  found 
the  men  you  are  after ; "  and  sure  enough  we  saw 
approaching  two  ruffianly  looking  fellows,  tied  to- 
gether, and  being  dragged  along  by  men  on  horse- 
back. I  hope  they  were  the  right  men.  I  will 
presume  that  they  were,  but  they  had  been  very 
quick  in  catching  them.  After  my  missionary 
friend  who  spoke  their  language  had  interrogated 
the  prisoners,  he  requested  that  they  might  be  kept 
apart,  which  was  done,  and  they  were  given  in 
charge  of  separate  sentinels,  to  whose  horses  they 
were  tied.  We  then  returned  to  our  lunch,  our 
pipes,  and  our  coffee.  Suddenly  we  heard  a  pistol 
shot,  a  rush,  and  a  scream  from  the  neighborhood 
of  the  prisoners.  It  seems  that  one  of  them  had 
drawn  the  pistol  from  his  guardian's  belt,  shot  him 
dead,  jumped  on  to  the  horse,  and  galloped  off. 
Everybody,  marines  and  all,  tried  to  follow.  Such 


276  HOBART  PASHA 

a  row  never  was  heard;  but  the  man  knew  the 
country,  and  we  saw  him  no  more.  I  was  rather 
glad,  for  he  must  have  been  a  plucky  fellow. 

The  other  prisoner  was  doubly  secured  and 
taken  down  to  the  village.  He  was  afterwards 
hanged,  so  justice  was  satisfied  and  my  work 
finished.  I  got  a  letter  of  thanks  from  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  of  which  I  was  and  am 
still  very  proud,  and  meant  to  have  used  had  block- 
ade-running brought  me  to  grief. 

This  business  being  satisfactorily  concluded,  I 
asked  my  friend  the  caimakam  if  there  was  any 
big  game  to  be  had.  His  answer  was,  "  ChoJc  au 
va,"  which  meant  there  was  plenty:  and  he  under- 
took to  beat  the  neighboring  woods  that  very  day 
with  his  men.  We  were  told  that  there  were  plenty 
of  roe  deer,  foxes,  jackals,  &c.,  so  we  loaded  our 
guns  with  S.S.G.  cartridges  (which  means,  I  may 
tell  it  to  the  uninitiated,  buckshot).  We  were 
stationed  on  the  outskirts  of  a  splendid  oak  wood 
that  looked  like  holding  any  mortal  thing  in  the 
way  of  game.  Soon  as  the  beaters  set  to  work 
cocks  began  to  fly  about  in  all  directions,  but  we 
had  an  instinct  that  something  more  important 
would  turn  up,  so  took  no  notice  of  feathered 
game. 

I  was  watching  close,  trying  to  look  through 
almost  impenetrable  brushwood,  when  I  heard  a 


SPORT  AND  SOCIETY  277 

rustling  sort  of  noise  near  me,  and  suddenly  I 
caught  sight  of  something  which  almost  made  my 
hair  stand  on  end  —  a  great  tiger  leopard,  creep- 
ing, stealthily  as  a  cat,  out  of  the  wood,  within 
twenty  yards  of  where  I  was  standing.  Fortu- 
nately he  did  not  look  my  way.  What  was  I  to 
do?  My  gun,  as  I  said,  was  loaded  with  buck- 
shot; a  miss  or  a  wound  would  have  been  sure  to 
bring  the  brute  on  top  of  me.  However,  I  did 
not  hesitate  more  than  a  couple  of  seconds;  I 
pointed  my  gun  at  his  heart  just  behind  the 
shoulder,  and  pulled  the  trigger.  The  whole 
charge  went  straight  where  I  pointed  it,  and  the 
tiger  rolled  over  on  his  back.  I  put  a  ball  into 
my  gun  and  approached  him  very  gingerly.  When 
I  got  close  to  him  I  found  he  hadn't  a  kick  in  him. 
His  claws  were  crunched  up  as  if  grasping  some- 
thing, his  grand  eyes  were  growing  dim,  and 
though,  to  make  all  sure,  I  fired  a  ball  into  his 
head,  it  was  not  necessary,  as  I  found  nine  buck- 
shot in  the  heart.  He  was  a  splendid  beast,  eleven 
feet  from  tip  of  tail  to  end  of  nose.  It  was  said 
that  he  had  killed  a  shepherd  some  days  before, 
so  he  deserved  his  fate. 

Before  returning  to  the  ship  that  evening,  we 
arranged  that  the  Arabs  should  turn  out  the  next 
day  to  drive  the  covers  on  the  beach  near  the  ship, 
which  were  supposed  to  hold  deer  and  pigs.  I 


must  mention  that  these  Arabs  are  very  different 
to  the  wandering  tribes  we  had  lately  been  amongst ; 
they  are  warlike,  unscrupulous,  and  dishonest. 
We  made  an  arrangement  with  them  that  all  game 
killed  should  belong  to  us,  the  beaters  being  paid 
in  gunpowder,  which  they  prized  very  much.  The 
Arabs  thought  we  should  only  find  pig,  and  as 
Mussulmans  won't  touch  it,  the  bargain  was  con- 
sidered satisfactory  to  both  parties. 

It  so  happened  that  at  the  first  drive  a  very 
fine  deer,  of  a  species  I  had  never  seen  before, 
broke  cover.  I  had  the  luck  to  shoot  him,  and 
as  the  ship  was  lying  very  near,  we  hailed  her  for 
a  boat  in  which  to  send  off  our  game.  I  saw  a 
good  deal  of  whispering  among  the  Arabs,  who, 
after  some  discussion,  informed  us  through  one  of 
the  missionaries,  who  kindly  acted  as  interpreter, 
that  the  deer  must  belong  to  them,  as  they  only 
promised  to  give  the  pigs,  and  they  openly  de- 
clared we  should  not  take  it  on  board.  I  wasn't 
going  to  stand  this,  for  many  reasons.  In  the 
first  place  it  was  necessary  to  show  these  people 
that  we  were  their  masters,  secondly,  by  our  agree- 
ment the  deer  was  ours.  When  the  boat  (a  cutter 
with  ten  men  unarmed)  had  come  on  shore,  I  gave 
orders  for  the  men  to  return  and  bring  their  arms 
and  ten  marines,  also  armed.  The  Arabs,  of 
whom  there  were  about  one  hundred  armed  to  the 


SPORT  AND  SOCIETY  279 

teeth,  seemed  firm  in  their  decision ;  so  was  I. 
When  I  pointed  to  my  armed  men,  who  were  by 
this  time  landing,  they  pointed  with  the  same 
significant  gestures  to  their  armed  men.  At  this 
critical  moment,  my  first  lieutenant,  seeing  that 
something  was  wrong,  fired  a  shell  right  over  our 
heads  to  intimidate  the  Arabs,  and  the  result 
showed  that  it  had  that  effect.  The  deer  was  lying 
on  the  beach.  I  ordered  the  marines  to  form  a 
cordon  round  him,  and  the  sailors  to  bring  up  the 
boat  stretchers  on  which  to  lay  the  animal. 

When  all  was  ready  I  gave  the  command  to 
carry  it  away  and  put  it  in  the  boat.  The  Arabs 
cocked  their  muskets  and  made  a  move  forward ; 
the  marines  turned  and  faced  them.  I  thought 
we  were  in  for  a  fight ;  however,  the  bearers  carried 
off  their  charge  and  placed  it  in  the  boat,  when 
to  my  astonishment  the  Arab  chief  put  down  his 
musket  and  came  and  made  his  salaam  to  me,  ask- 
ing if  he  might  be  allowed  to  visit  the  ship.  I,  of 
course,  was  delighted.  We  took  him  and  several 
of  his  friends  on  board.  So  passed  off  what  might 
have  been  a  serious  affair.  I  might  have  become 
involved  in  a  long  explanation  to  show  that  I  was 
right  in  protecting  my  game  by  armed  force,  but 
under  all  the  circumstances  I  feel  that  I  was  fully 
justified  in  doing  so. 

I  should  like  before  finishing  these  sketches  to 


280  HOBART  PASHA 

say  something  about  the  society  of  Constantinople. 
As  one  cannot  always  be  out  shooting,  it  is  very 
important  to  our  happiness  to  have  something  to 
fall  back  upon  in  the  social  way.  I  was  told  once 
by  a  very  great  friend  of  mine,  who  saw  that  I 
was  inclined  to  fret,  "  to  take  everything  as  a 
joke."  If  one's  liver  is  in  good  order  it  is  very 
easy  to  do  so,  but  sometimes  the  contrary  is  the 
case,  and  it  makes  one  at  times  quite  savage  to 
see  the  airs  that  are  temporarily  put  on  by  those 
that  form  the  so-called  upper  or  diplomatic  society 
of  Pera.  Here  are  really  amiable  people  so  ut- 
terly spoilt  by  the  exalted  idea  of  their  own  dignity 
that  they  become  absolute  bores,  especially  to  any 
one  accustomed  to  good  society.  If  you  go  to 
a  soiree  you  see  grouped  together,  for  fear  of  con- 
tamination with  the  outsiders  (without  which  a 
successful  party  cannot  be  formed),  the  members 
of  the  so-called  "  sacred  circle,"  talking  to  each 
other  in  dignified  (or  undignified,  as  the  case  may 
be  judged)  whispers.  While  all  others  are  cheer- 
ful and  gay,  you  scarcely  see  a  smile  on  the  coun- 
tenances of  these  tremendous  swells. 

If  you  go  in  the  street  you  will  meet  a  creature 
dressed  in  most  gorgeous  apparel,  armed  to  the 
teeth  with  firearms  that  probably  won't  go  off, 
knives  and  daggers  covered  with  precious  stones, 
walking  solemnly  along.  If  you  look  carefully 


SPORT  AND  SOCIETY  281 

among  the  crowd  in  his  wake  you  will  discover 
some  one,  or  ones,  walking  with  an  indignant 
swagger  at  being  hustled  by  the  vulgar  crowd. 
The  man  in  gold,  armed  to  the  teeth,  is  what  is 
called  a  cavass,  and  these  swells  behind  are  the 
representatives,  male  or  female,  of  some  foreign 
potentate,  taking  a  walk.  It  would  be  quite  infra 
dig.  to  go  without  one  of  these  useless  appendages. 
Again,  if  an  individual  not  belonging  to  the 
"  sacred  circle "  meets  a  foreign  representative 
who  condescends  to  speak  to  him,  and  while  he  is 
doing  so  another  member  of  an  embassy  "  heaves 
in  sight,"  the  first  swell  will  immediately  sheer  off, 
looking  ashamed  at  having  so  far  forgotten  him- 
self as  to  be  seen  speaking  to  any  one  outside  "  his 
circle." 

You  may  occasionally  be  invited  to  the  houses 
of  these  exalted  personages,  but  there  is  always  an 
implied  condescension  in  their  attitude  which  tends 
to  negative  the  effect  of  their  good  intentions. 
And  all  this  is  a  great  pity,  because  these  people 
must  be  tired  of  each  other,  and  would  find  quite 
as  much  intelligence  outside  as  inside  their  circle. 
Besides,  there  are  charming  people  among  them 
who  would  ornament  any  society,  but  their  ill-acted 
airs  of  "  brief  authority"  quite  spoil  them,  and 
make  them,  as  I  said,  bores  to  themselves  and  to 
those  who  would  be  their  friends. 


282  HOBART  PASHA 

I  will,  in  proof  of  what  I  say,  relate  a  short 
anecdote  as  to  what  occurred  in  the  house  of  a 
friend  of  mine. 

This  friend  gave  a  very  large  fancy  dress  ball, 
at  which  two  or  three  hundred  people  were  present. 
The  ball  was  in  every  way  a  success,  but  as  the 
giver  did  not  belong  to  the  "  sacred  circle,"  the 
members  of  that  body  only  condescended  to  go  for 
a  short  time.  I  have  no  doubt  (for  there  are  lots 
of  jolly  people  among  them)  that  they  would  have 
liked  to  have  stopped  much  longer,  but  it  was  not 
thought  "  dignified."  So,  after  a  short  time,  most 
of  the  "  sacred  circle "  sneaked  away.  One  of 
them  who  had  two  charming  daughters,  devoted  to 
dancing,  not  having  noticed  the  departure  of  the 
great  people  till  that  moment,  came  hurriedly  to 
my  friend  and  said,  "  Good-night,  I  must  go,  every 
one  is  gone."  "  Every  one  ? "  said  my  friend, 
"  why,  look  at  the  rooms,  there  are  at  least  two 
hundred  people  dancing  and  amusing  themselves." 
"  Yes,  I  see,"  said  the  diplomat  (he  was  rather  a 
small  one),  "but  I  mean  the  ambassadors  and 
their  parties  are  gone,  so  I  must  go ;  but  for  once, 
to  please  you,  I'll  leave  my  daughters."  This  is 
a  fact,  and  shows  the  unfortunate  system  that 
ruins  to  a  great  extent  the  sociability  of  society  in 
Pera. 

Now  it  is  true  that  all  these  people  are  called 


SPORT  AND  SOCIETY  283 

barons,  counts,  viscounts,  &c.,  but  my  friend  be- 
longs to  a  right  good  family,  and  would  have  been 
more  than  the  equal  of  many  of  them  had  they 
met  in  Paris,  London,  St.  Petersburg,  Berlin,  or 
Vienna. 

The  title  of  baron,  &c.,  seems  to  me  to  be  always 
given  to  a  diplomat  ex-officio.  However,  barons 
or  no  barons,  the  rule  of  exclusiveness  laid  down 
by  the  "  sacred  circle  "  at  Constantinople  is  to  be 
deplored,  as  it  injures  society  sadly.  Few  large 
parties  are  given  now  except  those  got  up  by  the 
great  people.  When  an  outsider  sends  out  in- 
vitations for  a  ball,  or  any  other  kind  of  reunion, 
the  negotiations  that  go  on  between  the  swells  as 
to  whether  they  should  patronise  it  or  not  are 
comical  in  the  extreme.  Should  ever  so  slight  an 
omission  in  the  form  of  these  invitations,  or  a 
mere  accident  in  the  delivery  thereof,  appear  to 
them  to  touch  their  dignity,  they  will  probably  all 
absent  themselves  in  a  body,  even  were  it  question 
of  the  marriage  or  the  funeral  of  one  of  their 
oldest  and  most  respectable  acquaintances.  Not 
being  one  of  them,  and  not  caring  very  much  for 
artificial  society,  I  look  on  with  great  amusement. 
Some  one  gave  great  offence  on  a  late  occasion, 
while  describing  society  in  Pera,  by  suggesting 
that  if  there  were  a  European  court  here  things 
would  be  very  different;  so  they  might.  People 


284  HOBART  PASHA 

would  then  find  their  level,  as  they  do  in  other 
capitals. 

I  feel  very  sorry  for  the  members  of  the  "  sacred 
circle."  Not  only  do  they  lose  much  now,  but  it 
will  be  awkward  for  them  when  they  go  back  whence 
they  came.  A  short  time  ago  I  asked  a  very  high 
and  mighty  personage  if  she  did  not  fear  the 
change  that  must  come  when  she  left  Constanti- 
nople. She  answered  with  great  frankness :  "  I 
feel  that  most  of  what  you  say  is  correct,  but  be- 
fore I  came  here  I  was  very  small  fry ;  now  I  know 
I  am  a  swell,  and  mean  to  enjoy  myself."  She 
was  like  those  reckless  ones  who  cried :  "  Let  us 
eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die."  I  have 
seen  a  stand  made  by  one  or  two  o£  these  mighty 
ones,  an  attempt  to  break  down  the  system  of 
pompous  exclusiveness,  but  that  attempt  unfortu- 
nately failed. 

I  must  say  that  the  foreign  colonies  in  Pera  are 
much  to  blame,  for  they  worship  with  all  their 
minds  and  all  their  strength  their  different  chiefs 
and  chieftainesses,  and  human  nature  being  weak, 
&c.,  &c. 

Apart  from  the  "  sacred  circle  "  there  is  a  nice 
little  society  where  people  go  in  for  en j  oying  them- 
selves, and  succeed  in  doing  so  very  comfortably; 
but  even  there,  with  some  few  exceptions,  there  is 
that  secret  Ipnging  for  one  or  two  of  the  swells 


SPORT  AND  SOCIETY  28o 

—  even  a  junior  secretary  of  an  embassy  is  looked 
upon  as  a  desideratum. 

The  Greeks  keep  very  much  to  themselves ;  so 
do  the  Armenians.  The  Turks  are  exceedingly 
fond  of  going  into  society,  but  their  domestic  ar- 
rangements tend  to  prevent  their  entertaining. 

His  Majesty  the  Sultan  frequently  invites  Euro- 
pean ladies  to  his  dinner  parties,  and  those  who 
have  had  that  honor  must  have  thoroughly  en- 
joyed the  delicious  music  and  the  pleasant  enter- 
tainments after  dinner  at  the  Palace  of  Yildiz.  I 
don't  see  why  His  Imperial  Majesty's  example  is 
not  followed  by  some  of  his  subjects ;  perhaps  we 
may  come  to  that  by-and-by. 

In  what  I  have  said  about  society  in  Pera  I  have 
not  meant  to  be  personal  or  offensive  in  any  way. 
My  object  has  been  to  show  up  a  rotten  system 
whereby  everybody  suffers. 

If  I  bring  these  pages  to  a  somewhat  abrupt 
conclusion,  it  is  because  I  have  had  the  bad  luck 
to  get  a  chill  out  shooting,  and  have  been  some- 
what seriously  ill.  However,  I  have  hope  that 
there  is  "  life  in  the  old  dog  yet,"  and  that  I  may 
before  long  have  some  other  adventures  of  a  sim- 
ilar description  to  add  to  these  "  unvarnished 
sketches  "  of  my  life. 

THE   END 


